... meeting. SUMMARY: The Ravalli County Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Hamilton, Montana. The... 21, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 1801 N. First Street, Hamilton, MT... N. First Street, Hamilton, MT 59840. Comments may also be sent via email to jmlubke@fs.fed.us or...

... meeting. SUMMARY: The Ravalli County Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Hamilton, MT. The committee... the Bitteroot National Forest Supervisor's Office located at 1801 N. 1st, Hamilton, MT. Written... comments and requests for time for oral comments must be sent to Joni Lubke at 1801 N. 1st, Hamilton,...

The rare Sc mineral thortveitite, (Sc,Y)2Si2O7, occurs as ??m- to mm-sized crystals in fluorite-bearing granitic pegmatites and the host melagabbro within the Crystal Mountain fluorite deposit, Ravalli County, Montana. Thortveitite is found as colorless and clear to smoky and translucent, subhedral to euhedral prisms up to 3 mm in length in the massive fluroite, as mm-sized anhedra to subhedra in diopside and edenite, and as ??m-sized droplet-like crystals in actinolite. Micrometric textures suggest that some thortveitite exsolved from actinolite, which contains between 1.2 and 2.9 wt.% Sc2O3. The source of the Sc is believed to be magmatic. The physical, optical and crystallographic properties of thortveitite are described. -from Authors

For the NordBall multidetector system a versatile data acquisition system has been developed around the VME bus utilizing 68010 processors. The readout of the instrument is based on a generalized READER concept. READERs are CPU boards reading hardware in parallel for each event. In the FERA bus the final fast logical decision is made before an event is to be considered as being present for readout. Synchronization with the trigger for readout, coming from the FERA bus system, is performed by a special hardware unit. Synchronization on event level between the READERs is done by the same hardware unit monitored by a master CPU.

In this review of Warren Nord's "Does God Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and Universities," Walter Feinberg provides a detailed analysis of Nord's argument that the study of religion should be constitutionally mandated as a corrective to the overwhelmingly secular course of study offered in…

A mutant of Brucella suis bearing a Tn5 insertion in norD, the last gene of the operon norEFCBQD, encoding nitric oxide reductase, was unable to survive under anaerobic denitrifying conditions. The norD strain exhibited attenuated multiplication within nitric oxide-producing murine macrophages and rapid elimination in mice, hence demonstrating that norD is essential for Brucella virulence. PMID:16495577

Some flint lithic artifacts were discovered in the fissure fillings of the well-known Pirro Nord site (Apulia, Southern Italy). The lithic industry, composed by three cores and some flakes, has been found to be associated to an Early Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage. The fossil association contains a wide range of micromammals, including Allophaiomys ruffoi and Episoriculus gibberodon and large mammals including Bison degiulii and Equus altidens together with African elements as the gelada baboon Theropithecus and the saber-toothed cat Megantereon whitei. It defines the latest Villafranchian chronological unit (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit) in the Western European mammal biochronology. The lithic industry of Pirro Nord represents the oldest occurrence of the genus Homo in Europe as it is attributable to a chronological interval between 1.3 and 1.7 Ma. This supports the hypothesis that the genus Homo, with Oldowaian technology, extended its range in Europe, probably from western Asia, during the first half of the Early Pleistocene. The new discovery from Pirro Nord changes the chronology of the first arrival of hominids in Europe and offers new perspectives in the debate about the human dispersal in the Early Pleistocene.

L'Horta Nord is an important irrigation district in Valencia (Spain), especially for vegetable crops. The traditional cropping pattern in the region consists of a rotation of chufa with crops such as potato, onion, lettuce, escarole and red cabbage, being all these crops furrow irrigated. Currently, the quality of the water used is acceptable, water is not expensive and there are no limitations on supply. Consequently, growers are not aware of the volumes of water used, application efficiencies, nor water productivity for any of the crops cited. The European Framework Directive 2000/60, based on the precautionary principle, considers preventive action for measures to be taken; moreover, drought periods are becoming more frequent and extended, and water is being diverted to other uses. Thus, water use is an issue to improve. In this sense, the current situation of the irrigation in the area is analysed using chufa (Cyperus esculentus L. var. sativus Boeck.) as representative of the crops, since most of the crops in the area have shallow root systems, as chufa, which are irrigated in similar patterns. In order to analyse the irrigation performance of the traditional chufa crop as well as to achieve more sustainable results, different studies have been carried out, during the last decade. Efforts have been directed to increase water productivity, increasing yield and minimising the volumes of water applied. Different planting configurations and different irrigation thresholds, not only in furrow irrigation but also in drip irrigation, are examples of how the irrigation performance could be improved. Herein is presented a two-year study, comparing, in both furrow and drip irrigation, two irrigation schedules based on the volumetric soil water content, which was continuously monitored using capacitance sensors. Yield was significantly affected by the growing season, the irrigation system and by the irrigation schedule, and by the second order interactions of the

The past geographic distribution of the genus Theropithecus (Primates: Cercopithecidae) is mainly restricted to Africa. Outside that continent, the earliest reported records of this genus consist of a calcaneus of cf. Theropithecus sp. from 'Ubeidiya (Israel, 1.6-1.2 Ma [millions of years ago]), as well as three associated cervical vertebrae from Pirro Nord (Italy, 1.7-1.3 Ma) attributed to Theropithecus sp. The attribution of the Pirro Nord vertebrae to this genus has been disputed on morphometric grounds, although their assignment to a large-bodied cercopithecid has remained undisputed. Here we report unpublished cervical vertebral specimens with a similar morphology and, given their significance for the paleobiogeography of Theropithecus (purportedly representing its earliest European record), we re-evaluate their taxonomic attribution. In particular, we reconsider the possibility that they belong to another non-primate mammal recorded at this site. Based on both qualitative and metric morphological comparisons, we strongly favor an alternative attribution of the cervical vertebrae from Pirro Nord to the large porcupine Hystrix refossa, which is widely documented at the site by both dentognathic and other postcranial remains. We therefore conclude that the dispersal of Theropithecus out of Africa before ca. 1 Ma (when it is recorded by dental remains from Cueva Victoria, Spain) is currently based only on the calcaneus from 'Ubeidiya tentatively attributed to this genus. PMID:25042286

We posted the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional pharmacovigilance center website and distributed a survey to its potential users between August 2014 and October 2014 (135 general practitioners, 45 pharmacists, 14 patients). Satisfaction was 7.3±1.6 out of 10 points for the visual aspect, 7.8±1.5 out of 10 points for navigation and 7.6±1.4 out of 10 points for content. The website was declared useful by 98% respondents, particularly for the reporting of adverse drugs reactions (89%). PMID:27235657

In Peru, the industry's development has made economic improvements but at the same time, it has had a major impact on the health of the workers; for that reason, it was necessary to generate control mechanisms. So, in 1940 it was created the Departmento de Higiene Industrial, which in 1956 was changed to Instituto de Salud Ocupacional, but it was deactivated in 1994. However, in 2001 it reappeared into the Ministerio de Salud organizational structure with the name of Instituto de Salud Ocupacional "Alberto Hurtado Abadía". Actually, it is the Centro Nacional de Salud Ocupacional y Protección del Ambiente para la Salud (CENSOPAS), organ of the Instituto Nacional de Salud which continues working in synergy with other institutions and sectors, making research to protect the health of exposed persons (workers and community) to contamination and risks associated with economic activities. PMID:22858781

Background This paper describes and discusses the methodology of the Nordic long-term OCD-treatment study (NordLOTS). The purpose of this effectiveness study was to study treatment outcome of CBT, to identify CBT non- or partial responders and to investigate whether an increased number of CBT-sessions or sertraline treatment gives the best outcome; to identify treatment refractory patients and to investigate the outcome of aripiprazole augmentation; to study the outcome over a three year period for each responder including the risk of relapse, and finally to study predictors, moderators and mediators of treatment response. Methods Step 1 was an open and uncontrolled clinical trial with CBT, step 2 was a controlled, randomised non-blinded study of CBT non-responders from step 1. Patients were randomized to receive either sertraline plus CBT-support or continued and modified CBT. In step 3 patients who did not respond to either CBT or sertraline were treated with aripiprazole augmentation to sertraline. Conclusions This multicenter trial covering three Scandinavian countries is going to be the largest CBT-study for paediatric OCD to date. It is not funded by industry and tries in the short and long-term to answer the question whether further CBT or SSRI is better in CBT non-responders. PMID:24354717

The Agua Salud Project utilizes the Panama Canal's central role in world commerce to focus global attention on the ecosystem services provided by tropical forests. It will be the largest field experiment of its kind in the tropics aimed at quantifying the environmental services (water, carbon, and biodiversity) provided by tropical forests. The Agua Salud Watershed is our principal field site. This watershed and the headwaters of several adjacent rivers include both protected mature forests and a wide variety of land uses that are typical of rural Panama. Experiments at the scale of entire catchments will permit complete water and carbon inventories and exchanges for different landscape uses. The following questions will be addressed: (1) How do landscape treatments and management approaches affect ecosystem services such as carbon storage, water quality and quantity, dry- season water supply, and biodiversity? (2) Can management techniques be designed to optimize forest production along with ecosystem services during reforestation? (3) Do different tree planting treatments and landscape management approaches influence groundwater storage, which is thought to be critical to maintaining dry-season flow, thus insuring the full operation of the Canal during periods of reduced rainfall and severe climatic events such as El Niño. In addition we anticipate expanding this project to address biodiversity, social, and economic values of these forests.

In order to develop strategies for controlling and reducing Arctic air pollution, there is a need to understand the basic mechanisms for determining the fate of air pollution in the Arctic. Sources of atmospheric particles at Station Nord (81°36' N, 16°40' W) in North East Greenland were evaluated for a two-year period from March 2008 to February 2010. Source apportionment using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and COnstrained Physical Receptor Model (COPREM) was based on measurements of black carbon, elements (Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Pb) and inorganic ions (SO2, SO42-, Na+, NH4+, NO3-, Cl-). In general, source apportionment results by PMF and COPREM showed good agreement. Five sources adequately explained the measurements, which included a Marine and a Soil source of natural origin and three additional anthropogenic sources, which were all influenced by metal industries. One anthropogenic source was dominated by Zn of which air mass back trajectories using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model suggested a Canadian Arctic origin, despite certain influences from southern and eastern origins. Another anthropogenic source was characterised by high concentrations of Pb and As, which has been historically referred to as a Combustion source at Station Nord. The impacts of large-scale industry in Siberia, Russia were evident through high Cu concentrations in both the Combustion source and an additional Cu/Ni source. Br correlated well with the anthropogenic species S and Pb though the elements are unlikely to have a common origin. More likely, sulphuric acid aerosols serve as transport containers for Br species of marine or local origin. Of particular relevance to climate, sources of black carbon were identified to be mainly anthropogenic and most probably of Siberian origin (80-98%).

In order to develop strategies for controlling and reducing Arctic air pollution, there is a need to understand the basic mechanisms for determining the fate of air pollution in the Arctic. Sources of atmospheric particles at Station Nord (81° 36' N, 16° 40' W) in North East Greenland were evaluated for a two-year period from March 2008 to February 2010. Source apportionment using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and COnstrained Physical REceptor Model (COPREM) was based on measurements of black carbon, elements (Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Pb) and inorganic ions (SO2, SO42-, Na+, NH4+, NO3-, Cl2-. In general, source apportionment results by PMF and COPREM showed good agreement. Five sources adequately explained the measurements, which included a Marine and a Soil source of natural origin and three additional anthropogenic sources, which were all influenced by metal industries. One anthropogenic source was dominated by Zn of which air mass back trajectories using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model suggested a Canadian Arctic origin, despite certain influences from Southern and Eastern origins. Another anthropogenic source was characterised by high concentrations of Pb and As, which has been historically referred to as a Combustion source at Station Nord. The impacts of large-scale industry in Siberia, Russia were evident through high Cu concentrations in both the Combustion source and an additional Cu/Ni source. Br correlated well with the anthropogenic species S and Pb though the elements are unlikely to have a common origin. More likely, sulphuric acid aerosols serve as transport containers for Br species of marine origin. Of particular relevance to climate, sources of black carbon were identified to be mainly anthropogenic and most probably of Siberian origin (80-98%).

The Agua Salud Project utilizes the Panama Canal’s (Canal) central role in world commerce to focus global attention on the ecosystem services provided by tropical forests. The Canal was one of the great engineering projects in the world. Completed in 1914, after almost a decade of concerted effort, its 80 km length greatly shortened the voyage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. An entire class of ships, the Panamax, has been constructed to maximize the amount of cargo that can be carried in a Canal passage. In today’s parlance, the Canal is a “green” operation, powered largely by water (Table 1). The locks, three pairs on each end with a net lift of 27 meters, are gravity fed. For each ton of cargo that is transferred from ocean to ocean, about 13 tons of water (m3) are used. Lake Gatún forms much of the waterway in the Canal transect. Hydroelectricity is generated at the Gatún dam, whenever there is surplus water, and at Madden Dam (completed in 1936) when water is transferred from Lake Alhajuela to Lake Gatún. The Canal watershed is the source of drinking water for Panama City and Colon City, at either end of the Canal, and numerous towns in between.

The Island of Jan Mayen is situated at 71°N and 8.3°W in the north Atlantic at the southern edge of the Jan Mayen fracture zone. It is a volcanic island extending for about 53 km from SW towards NE. Maximum width of the island is 15.8 km at its northern tip, while minimum width is only 2.5 km at its centre. The island is built up by two main edifices that have erupted repeatedly, namely Sør-Jan and Nord-Jan or Beerenberg. Petrology of the two edifices is strikingly different. In the south volcanic products are characterized by evolved basalts and trackites to rhyolites. Crystals of ol, cpx, opx are small and in low portions in the rocks. Plg is however common. A 220 m thick plinian formation is found at Borga location in Sør Jan resting on top of a palaeo beach at the altitude of some 170-200 m. This we interpret as caldera formation on Sør Jan and the beach uplift a later stage resurgent activity within the caldera. Further the post caldera volcanic activity all indicates that magma has been stored for shorter or longer time before eruption on surface. Nord Jan or Beerenberg on the other hand shows more primitive magma evolution indicating its younger age. At the flanks of Beerenberg (e.g. Esk krater and Kapp Fishburn) volcanic activity is characterized by ankaramitic magma, with ol, opx and cpx (to lesser extent) in the size range of 1-4 cm and portions up 30% of the whole rock. Plg is absent in these rocks. Volcanic vents closer to the summit area of Beerenberg have smaller ol, cpx and opx (to a lesser extent) and in much lower portion than at the flank eruption sites. These rocks also all carry plg, indicating magma reservoir development and shallow magma residence towards the centre of Beerenberg. We will present a model for the evolution of the Jan Mayen Island, as a migrating volcanism from South towards North. At first the volcanism is characterized by mantle derived magma, namely ankaramites. Prolonged activity forms magma chambers in the crust that

Background It is a widely held notion that alcohol abuse is related to mental distress in the spouse. Research has substantiated this notion by showing a tendency for spouses of alcohol abusers to experience more mental distress than spouses of non-abusers. However, the picture seems to be more complex, as some results do not show a significant effect or even less mental distress among spouses of alcohol abusers with the highest alcohol consumption. The present study investigates the association between spousal mental distress and both a high consumption of alcohol and having experienced alcohol related problems. Methods Norwegian population-based questionnaire data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT 2) were analyzed. In total 11,584 couples were eligible for analysis. Alcohol consumption was measured by numerical indicators of alcohol amount and frequency of drinking, whereas alcohol-related problems (i.e. having been criticized for excessive drinking) were measured by the CAGE Alcohol Screening Questionnaire. Multivariate hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results Results revealed that alcohol consumption was significantly associated with a decrease in spousal mental distress, whereas alcohol-related problems were associated with an increase in spousal mental distress when adjusted for each other. Interaction effects indicated that couples discordant for drinking problems experienced more mental distress than spouses concordant for drinking problems. Conclusions The results of our study indicate that alcohol-related problems constitute a clear risk factor for spousal mental distress. On the other hand, a high consumption of alcohol per se was related to lower levels of spousal mental distress, after adjusting for the alcohol-related problems perceived by the alcohol consumer him/herself. All effect sizes were small, but the trends were clear, challenging the notion that a high consumption of alcohol is exclusively and under all

Neandertal occupation of Eemian environments in Europe is well attested by several archaeological sites dating to this interglacial period. Does this mean that Neandertals were living in closed forest environments? Due to the potential variability of Eemian environments in space and time, it is necessary to study environmental records that can be correlated with phases of hominin presence, as reflected in the archaeological record. Such a perspective can be obtained from the small basin locality Neumark-Nord 2, as it contains an extensive and detailed environmental record, as well as a large archaeological record consisting of several distinct find levels. Analysis shows that hominin presence is predominantly associated with semi-open environmental conditions. A review of the data from the neighbouring Neumark-Nord 1 basin shows that semi-open environments were also characterizing the wider environment during phases of hominin presence at both basin localities. Large herbivores attracted to the water in these basins may have played an important role in the vegetation openness, probably in conjunction with (local) climatic conditions. The relationship between hominin presence and semi-open environments is explained as Neandertals exploiting the large herbivores aggregating around these freshwater localities, while the more varied vegetation would also have provided them with edible plant foods. Other Eemian sites from freshwater contexts provide evidence for semi-open conditions as well.

... Hamilton, MT. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination... meeting will be held at the Bitteroot National Forest Supervisor's Office located at 1801 N. 1st, Hamilton... Joni Lubke at 1801 N. 1st, Hamilton, MT 59840 or by email to jmlubke@fs.fed.us or via facsimile to...

... purpose of the meeting is assigning monitor's contacts. DATES: The meeting will be held September 28, 2010... to facilitate entry into the building. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Ritter or Nancy...

Objectives An increasing part of the population is affected by disordered eating (DE) even though they do not meet the full eating disorder (ED) criteria. To improve treatment in the range of weight-related disorders, there is a need to improve our knowledge about DE and relevant correlates of weight problems such as underweight, overweight and obesity. However, studies investigating DE and weight problems in a wide range of ages in the general population have been lacking. This paper explores DE, weight problems, dieting and weight dissatisfaction among women in a general population sample. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting The third survey of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT3). Participants The population included 27 252 women, aged 19–99 years, with information on DE outcomes and covariates. Outcomes DE was assessed with an 8-item version of the Eating Attitude Test and the Eating Disorder Scale-5. Body mass index (BMI) was objectively measured. Data on dieting and weight dissatisfaction were collected from self-reported questionnaires and analysed across weight categories. Crude and adjusted logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were used. Results High rates of overweight (38%) and obesity (23%) were found. DE was associated with weight problems. In women aged <30 years, 11.8% (95% CI 10.3 to 13.1) reported DE, and 12% (95% CI 11.5 to 12.6) reported DE in women aged >30 years. In those of younger ages (19–29 years), lower weight predicted DE, while increasing weight predicted DE in older aged women (30–99 years). The majority of women were dissatisfied with their weight (58.8%), and 54.1% of the women reported dieting. Neither BMI status nor age was associated with dieting or weight dissatisfaction. Conclusions A high prevalence of DE was observed, and findings suggest that weight problems and DE are not distinct from one another. Dieting was associated with women's weight dissatisfaction, rather than with actual weight

Background The U.S. Public Health Service recommends that all women in the United States capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 μg of folic acid daily to reduce their risk of having a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect (NTD). However, disparities exist in the consumption of folic acid, with Hispanic women having lower rates of folic acid consumption than non-Hispanic white women. Methods A community-based feasibility study was designed to assess the utility of the promotora de salud model to promote consumption of multivitamins containing folic acid for the prevention of NTDs among Spanish-speaking Hispanic women in North Carolina. The study consisted of an educational intervention given by a promotora (a lay, community health worker), with data collection occurring at baseline and four months post-intervention to measure changes in knowledge and behavior. Overall, 52% (n = 303) of participants completed all components of the study. Results Self-reported daily multivitamin consumption increased from 24% at baseline to 71% four months post-intervention. During the same time frame, awareness of folic acid increased from 78% to 98% and knowledge of the role of folic acid in the prevention of birth defects increased from 82% to 92%. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that the promotora de salud model may be effective in reaching a subpopulation of women with the folic acid message. Additional studies with larger population sizes are warranted to validate these findings. PMID:24707879

In France, erosion by water run-off is estimated to 1.5 t ha‑1yr‑1 and can exceed 10 t ha‑1yr‑1 in large growing areas, such as the North of France (Nord-Pas-de-Calais). In this region, the Canche watershed (1294 km2) sustains heavy loss of fertile soils. The land use is mainly dominated by arable lands (80%) and in 2013, 104 kt of suspended sediment transited to the estuary. As demonstrated in literature, agricultural soil erosion leads to the gradual disappearance and depletion of fertile soil, which constitute a non-renewable resource at human time scale. Additionally, water erosion can significantly damage the aquatic habitat and can be responsible for the input of nutrients, bacteria, pesticides, heavy metals and radionuclides into surface waters. Conscious of these effects, many programs have emerged in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais to reduce erosion. This study presents a combination of environmental magnetic proxy parameters and geochemical analyses on sediments and suspended particulate matter. The aim is to develop effective tools to trace erosion by water run-off and quantify this process. In order to identify the respective sediment sources in the Canche watershed, sediment trap samples of suspended particulate matter were recovered at key positions along the Canche watershed. The preliminary results show that magnetic concentration (Mrs) shows typical values for the agricultural soils in the region, but these variations in magnetic concentrations and total irons concentrations are not always correlated, which may be explained by the iron speciation. In calculating the so-called S-ratio for each sample we can distinguish changes in magneto-mineralogy (and thus iron speciation) from magnetite-dominated assemblages in the mainstream Canche (naturel background signal) to high-coercivity-dominated assemblages in the tributaries, typical for soil erosion material rich in hematite/goethite. In combination with the element concentrations from ICP analyses

The Salud con Hyland's Project: Comienzo Saludable, Familia Sana [Health With Hyland's Project: Healthy Start, Healthy Family],was developed to provide education and support to Latina mothers regarding healthy infant feeding practices and maternal health. The promotora-delivered intervention was comprised of two charlas (educational sessions) and a supplemental, culturally and linguistically relevant infant feeding and care rolling calendar. Results indicate that the intervention increased intention to breastfeed exclusively, as well as to delay infant initiation of solids by 5 to 6 months. Qualitative feedback identified barriers to maternal and child health education as well as highlighted several benefits of the intervention. PMID:24625100

Background Musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is one of the most frequent causes of sick leave from work, and is a common and potentially disabling condition. This study is based on the salutogenic perspective and investigates the relationship between personal, social, and functional health resources and work participation in a population reporting MSP. Method Analysis was performed on cross sectional data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, HUNT 3, in Norway. The sample of n= 6702 was extracted from HUNT 3, including a total of N= 50807 participants. Self-reported health (SRH) and, personal, social, and functional resources were assessed by a questionnaire. Reported sick leave was collected by interview at the point of time when the data were collected, from October 2006 until June 2008. Results Logistic regression analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences between the work group and sick leave group in self-rated health, work support, work control, work load, and feeling strong, and the model predicted 68% of the cases correctly. Females had a lower statistically significant probability (B= −.53) to be in the work group then men when suffering from MSP, with odds of 41%. Conclusion There was a statistically significant relationship between health promoting resources such as SRH, feeling strong, absence of neuroticism, work load, work control, and work participation in MSP population. PMID:23509959

In previous studies on prescription patterns of opioids, accurate data on pain are missing, and previous epidemiological studies of pain lack accurate data on opioid use. The present linkage study, which investigates the relationship between pain and opioid use, is based on accurate individual data from the complete national Norwegian prescription database and the Nord-Trøndelag health study 3, which includes about 46,000 people. Baseline data were collected in 2006 to 2008, and the cohort was followed up for 3 years. Of 14,477 people who reported chronic nonmalignant pain, 85% did not use opioids at all, 3% used opioids persistently, and 12% used opioids occasionally. Even in the group reporting severe or very severe chronic pain, the number not using opioids (2680) was far higher than the number who used opioids persistently (304). However, three quarters of people using opioids persistently reported strong or very strong pain in spite of the medication. Risk factors for the people with chronic pain who were not persistent opioid users at baseline to use opioids persistently 3 years later were occasional use of opioids, prescription of >100 defined daily doses per year of benzodiazepines, physical inactivity, reports of strong pain intensity, and prescription of drugs from 8 or more Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical groups. The study showed that most people having chronic nonmalignant pain are not using opioids, even if the pain is strong or very strong. However, the vast majority of patients with persistent opioid use report strong or very strong pain in spite of opioid treatment. PMID:24637039

A 15-month experiment combining a geochemical survey of Cd, Cu, Zn and Hg with a bioaccumulation study for three filter-feeding bivalve species (oysters, Crassostrea gigas; cockles, Cerastoderma edule; and clams, Ruditapes philippinarum) was conducted in a breeding basin of the Nord Medoc salt marshes connected to the Gironde estuary, which is affected by historic polymetallic pollution. Regular manual surface measurements of temperature, salinity, pH and dissolved O(2) concentration and hourly multiprobe in situ measurements throughout several periods for 6-8 weeks were performed. The geochemical behavior of metals in water, suspended particulate matter and sediment and their ecotoxicological impact on the three bivalve species were evaluated by in situ exposure of juvenile oysters (water column) and adult cockles and clams (sediment surface). The physico-chemical parameters reflected seasonal variations and basin management. A distinct daily periodicity (except salinity) indicated intense photosynthesis and respiration. In summer, low dissolved O(2) saturations ( approximately 40-50%) occurred in the early morning at 30 cm above the sediment, whereas in depressions, the water column near the sediment surface was suboxic. Cadmium, Zn and Cu concentrations in suspended particulate matter exceeded typical estuarine values and were much higher than the homogeneously distributed concentrations in different depth ranges of the basin sediment. Particles collected in sediment traps showed intermediate metal concentrations close to sediment values. These results suggest trace metal recycling due to reductive dissolution under suboxic conditions at the sediment surface resulting in trace metal release to the water column and adsorption onto suspended particles. Dissolved Cd, Zn and Hg concentrations (e.g. 13-136 ng l(-1); 0.3-25.1 microg l(-1) and 0.5-2.0 ng l(-1), respectively) in the basin corresponded to the concentration range typically observed in the Gironde estuary

This paper compiles all the measured chemical warfare agent (CWA) concentrations found in relation to the Nord Stream pipeline work in Danish waters for the past 5 years. Sediment and biota sampling were performed along the pipeline route in four campaigns, prior to (in 2008 and 2010), during (in 2011) and after (in 2012) the construction work. No parent CWAs were detected in the sediments. Patchy residues of CWA degradation products of Adamsite, Clark I, phenyldichloroarsine, trichloroarsine and Lewisite II, were detected in a total of 29 of the 391 sediment samples collected and analyzed the past 5 years. The cumulative fish community risk quotient for the different locations, calculated as a sum of background and added risk, ranged between 0 and 0.017 suggesting a negligible acute CWA risk toward the fish community. The added risk from sediment disturbance in relation to construction of the pipelines represents less than 2% of the total risk in the areas with the highest calculated risk. The analyses of benthic infauna corroborate the finding of CWA related low risk across the years. There was no significant difference in CWA risk before (2008) and after the pipeline construction (2012). PMID:25113514

Introduction Meta Salud is a community health worker–facilitated intervention in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and was adapted from Pasos Adelante, a similar evidence-based intervention developed for a Latino population in the United States–Mexico border region. The objective of this study was to examine outcomes for Meta Salud and compare them with outcomes for Pasos Adelante. Methods This pretest–posttest study took place during 13 weeks among low-income residents of an urban area. The program provided information on topics such as heart health, physical activity, nutrition, diabetes, healthy weight, community health, and emotional well-being; included individual and group activities aimed at motivating behavior change; and encouraged participants to engage in brisk physical activity. Results We found significant decreases from baseline to conclusion in body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, weight, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. From baseline to 3-month follow-up, we found significant decreases in body mass index, waist circumference, weight, LDL cholesterol, and glucose, and an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Outcomes for Meta Salud were similar to those found for Pasos Adelante. Conclusion The physiological improvements found among participants in Meta Salud and comparable changes among participants in Pasos Adelante suggest a scalable and effective behavioral intervention for regions of the United States and Mexico that share a common boundary or have similar cultural and linguistic characteristics. PMID:25211502

This study assessed effectiveness of an educational community intervention taught by "promotoras de salud" in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among Hispanics using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Model development was guided by a social ecological framework proposing CVD risk reduction through improvement of protective…

... process through a notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 50235; September 30, 2009). We released the draft... Federal Register (77 FR 18852; March 28, 2012). Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge was established... FR 18852; March 28, 2012). During the review period a public meeting was held in...

During the past 10 years, the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (National Institute of Public Health) in Mexico has meticulously revised its educational model. This analysis resulted in the transformation of its educational model by tracing a new path in the pedagogical structure and faculty development to meet current challenges and students' needs. The first stage dealt with the national and international accreditation standards that came with the 21st century. The second stage responded to evidence of cognitive research showing that students are better prepared when they are engaged, active, and responsible for their own learning. This transformation was grounded on the use of information and communication technologies and on a competency-based educational approach that has led the expansion and innovation of educational practice. PMID:25706028

Background Weight gain in young women suggests that childbearing may be an important contributor to the development of obesity in women. Depressive symptoms can interfere with resumption of normal activity levels following childbirth or with the initiation of or adherence to physical activity programs essential for losing pregnancy weight. Depression symptoms may function directly to promote weight gain through a physiologic mechanism. Obesity and its related insulin resistance may contribute to depressed mood physiologically. Although physical activity has well-established beneficial effects on weight management and depression, women tend to under participate in physical activity during childbearing years. Further, the mechanisms underpinning the interplay of overweight, obesity, physical activity, depression, and inflammatory processes are not clearly explained. Objectives This report describes the theoretical rationale, design considerations, and cultural relevance for “Madres para la Salud” [Mothers for Health]. Design and Methods Madres para la Salud is a 12 month prospective, randomized controlled trial exploring the effectiveness of a culturally specific intervention using “bouts” of physical activity to effect changes in body fat, systemic and fat tissue inflammation, and postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary postpartum Latinas. Summary The significance and innovation of Madres para la Salud includes use of a theory-driven approach to intervention, specification and cultural relevance of a social support intervention, use of a Promotora model to incorporate cultural approaches, use of objective measures of physical activity in post partum Latinas women, and the examination of biomarkers indicative of cardiovascular risk related to physical activity behaviors in postpartum Latinas. PMID:21238614

Background: As part of its policy to shift monitoring of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to primary health care (PHC) workers, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tested the feasibility of using dried blood spots (DBS) for viral load (VL) quantification and genotypic drug resistance testing in off-site high-throughput laboratories. Methods: DBS samples from adults on ART were collected in 13 decentralized PHC facilities in the Nord-Kivu province and shipped during program quarterly supervision to a reference laboratory 2000 km away, where VL was quantified with a commercial assay (m2000rt, Abbott). A second DBS was sent to a World Health Organization (WHO)-accredited laboratory for repeat VL quantification on a subset of samples with a generic assay (Biocentric) and genotypic drug resistance testing when VL >1000 copies per milliliter. Findings: Constraints arose because of an interruption in national laboratory funding rather than to technical or logistic problems. All samples were assessed by both VL assays to allow ART adjustment. Median DBS turnaround time was 37 days (interquartile range: 9–59). Assays performed unequally with DBS, impacting clinical decisions, quality assurance, and overall cost-effectiveness. Based on m2000rt or generic assay, 31.3% of patients were on virological failure (VF) and 14.8% presented resistance mutations versus 50.3% and 15.4%, respectively. Conclusion: This study confirms that current technologies involving DBS make virological monitoring of ART possible at PHC level, including in challenging environments, provided organizational issues are addressed. Adequate core funding of HIV laboratories and adapted choice of VL assays require urgent attention to control resistance to ART as coverage expands. PMID:26413848

Background Oral tobacco (snuff) is taking a large market share in Scandinavia, especially with young users. However, long-term health effects are unknown. Small studies show association between snuff and reduced endothelial function, representing an early stage of vascular injury that often precedes manifest cardiovascular disease by several years. We therefore determined the associations between snuff and endothelial function in a large sample of healthy Norwegian men. Methods and Design In the Fitness substudy of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT3), endothelial function was measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Aerobic fitness was measured by peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). A cross-sectional design including 1 592 self-reported healthy men compared these observations with records of present tobacco use, standard cardiovascular risk factors, and socioeconomic status, using general linear models. Results FMD was lower in snuff users (FMD: 4.12%, 3.63, 4.61) compared to non-users (FMD: 4.52%, 4.27, 4.78) after adjustment for age (difference: -0.57%, -1.12, -0.01). After further adjustment for potential confounders, FMD still tended to be lower in snuff users than in non-users (difference: -0.53%, -1.09, 0.02). This difference was even more pronounced in the inactive snuff users (-0.83%, -1.59, -0.06) and in the low fit snuff users (-0.74%, CI -0.55, 0.079). Conclusions Oral tobacco is associated with a tendency towards reduced endothelial function, indicating vascular changes that precede cardiovascular disease. The strongest associations were found in men with low physical activity or reduced aerobic fitness. PMID:27490361

Background A community’s readiness for change is a precursor to the effective application of evidence-based practices for health promotion. Research is lacking regarding potential strategies to improve readiness to address obesity-related health issues in underserved communities. Community Context This case study describes SaludABLEOmaha, an initiative to increase readiness of residents in a Midwestern Latino community to address obesity and adopt healthy lifestyles. Methods SaludABLEOmaha emphasized 2 core approaches, youth activism and collaboration among public and private institutions, which we applied to planning and implementing tactics in support of 3 interconnected strategies: 1) social marketing and social media, 2) service learning in schools (ie, curricula that integrate hands-on community service with instruction and reflection), and 3) community and business engagement. Following the Community Readiness Model protocol (http://triethniccenter.colostate.edu/communityReadiness.htm), structured interviews were conducted with community leaders and analyzed before and 2.5 years after launch of the program. Outcome The community increased in readiness from stage 3 of the Community Readiness Model, “vague awareness,” at baseline to stage 5, “preparation,” at follow-up. Interpretation SaludABLEOmaha improved community readiness (eg, community knowledge, community climate), which probably contributed to the observed increase in readiness to address obesity through healthy lifestyle. Community mobilization approaches such as youth activism integrated with social marketing and social media tactics can improve community responsiveness to obesity prevention and diminish health disparities. PMID:25674679

Compañeros en la Salud (Partners in Health) is a 3-year project funded by the National Cancer Institute to conduct a church-based health promotion program whose aim is to reduce the risk of breast, cervical, and diet-related cancers in Latino/Hispanic women by increasing their knowledge of preventive behaviors, motivating healthy behavior change, and increasing their access to and utilization of preventive health services. From a systems perspective, churches serve as miniature, dynamic communities that present an opportunity for developing and implementing a program of health promotion. An analysis of church, Promotora (peer health worker), and participant characteristics from the preintervention base-line data revealed a naturally occurring segmentation of churches by congregation size and denomination. The Catholic churches almost exclusively were larger, whereas the Protestant churches almost exclusively were smaller. An analysis of the psychosocial characteristics of the various Latino women, when stratified by church congregation size, revealed that the women from the smaller, Protestant churches were poorer, had a lower level of acculturation, and had lower lifetime rates of clinical breast examinations. These results suggested greater resource deficits and a relatively higher need for Promotora outreach services for women from the smaller, Protestant churches. Implications are presented for differential approaches to effective health promotion among various types of churches. PMID:8562213

Summary The Guatemalan NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) TulaSalud has implemented an m-health project in the Department of Alta Verapaz. This Department has 1.2 million inhabitants (78% living in rural areas and 89% from indigenous communities) and in 2012, had a maternal mortality rate of 273 for every 100,000 live births. This m-health initiative is based on the provision of a cell phone to community facilitators (CFs). The CFs are volunteers in rural communities who perform health prevention, promotion and care. Thanks to the cell phone, the CFs have become tele-CFs who able to carry out consultations when they have questions; send full epidemiological and clinical information related to the cases they attend to; receive continuous training; and perform activities for the prevention and promotion of community health through distance learning sessions in the Q’eqchí and/or Poqomchi’ languages. In this study, rural populations served by tele-CFs were selected as the intervention group while the control group was composed of the rural population served by CFs without Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. As well as the achievement of important process results (116,275 medical consultations, monitoring of 6,783 pregnant women, and coordination of 2,014 emergency transfers), the project has demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in maternal mortality (p

The Guatemalan NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) TulaSalud has implemented an m-health project in the Department of Alta Verapaz. This Department has 1.2 million inhabitants (78% living in rural areas and 89% from indigenous communities) and in 2012, had a maternal mortality rate of 273 for every 100,000 live births. This m-health initiative is based on the provision of a cell phone to community facilitators (CFs). The CFs are volunteers in rural communities who perform health prevention, promotion and care. Thanks to the cell phone, the CFs have become tele-CFs who able to carry out consultations when they have questions; send full epidemiological and clinical information related to the cases they attend to; receive continuous training; and perform activities for the prevention and promotion of community health through distance learning sessions in the Q'eqchí and/or Poqomchi' languages. In this study, rural populations served by tele-CFs were selected as the intervention group while the control group was composed of the rural population served by CFs without Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. As well as the achievement of important process results (116,275 medical consultations, monitoring of 6,783 pregnant women, and coordination of 2,014 emergency transfers), the project has demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in maternal mortality (p

In May 2007, the Instituto Carso de la Salud-now Instituto Carlos Slim de la Salud (ICSS)-was endowed with US$500 million to focus on priority health issues in Latin America, notably issues of 'globalisation and non-communicable diseases'. ICSS was soon criticised, however, on the grounds that its funding was derived from tobacco industry profits and that its founder Carlos Slim Hélu remained an active industry principal. Collaboration with ICSS was said to run counter to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The Institute's then Executive President Julio Frenk disputed these charges. This research employs an archive of tobacco industry documents triangulated with materials from commercial, media, regulatory and NGO sources to examine the financial relations between Slim and the tobacco industry. The paper analyses Slim's continuing service to the industry and role in ICSS. It demonstrates a prima facie conflict of interest between ICSS's health mission and its founder's involvement in cigarette manufacturing and marketing, reflected on ICSS's website as a resounding silence on issues of tobacco and health. It is concluded that the reliance of international health agencies upon the commercial sector requires more robust institutional policies to effectively regulate conflicts of interest. PMID:21088061

Humans, not things, are of primary importance when talking of development. All over the world, two separate, contradictory types of development may be seen: the first, centered on man, the second, on wealth. One of the ways in which man can gain control over his own future is through the school. It is essential to find out which type of…

"Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud" was a successful family-based randomized controlled trial designed to improve dietary behaviors and intake among U.S. Latino families, specifically fruit and vegetable intake. The novel intervention design merged a community health worker ("promotora") model with an entertainment-education…

Purpose Given the large influence of social conditions on health, physicians may be more effective if they are trained to identify and address social factors that impact health. Despite increasing interest in teaching the social determinants of health in undergraduate medical education, few models exist. Participants and methods We present a 9-month pilot course on the social determinants of health for medical and other health professional students, which is based at Puentes de Salud, Philadelphia, PA, USA, a community health center serving a Latino immigrant population. This service-learning course, called the Health Scholars Program (HSP), was developed and implemented by volunteer medical and public health faculty in partnership with the community-based clinic. The HSP curriculum combines didactic instruction with service experiences at Puentes de Salud and opportunities for critical reflection. The HSP curriculum also includes a longitudinal project where students develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention to address a community-defined need. Results In our quantitative evaluation, students reported high levels of agreement with the HSP meeting stated course goals, including developing an understanding of the social determinants of health and working effectively with peers to implement community-based projects. Qualitative assessments revealed students’ perception of learning more about this topic in the HSP than in their formal medical training and of developing a long-term desire to serve vulnerable communities as a result. Conclusion Our experience with the HSP suggests that partnerships between academic medical centers and community-based organizations can create a feasible, effective, and sustainable platform for teaching medical students about the social determinants of health. Similar medical education programs in the future should seek to achieve a larger scale and to evaluate both students’ educational experiences and community

Reliable predictive models are needed to describe potential future climate changes and their impacts. Land surface-atmosphere feedbacks and their impacts on climate are a current priority in the climate modelling community, but reliable records of long-term land use and vegetation change required for model evaluation are limited. Palaeoecological and palaeo-climatic data provide a unique record of the past changes in vegetation, land use and climate on time scales relevant to vegetation processes and global change projections. The application of a new technique (the REVEALS model (Sugita 2007) to landscape reconstruction using fossil pollen data makes robust comparisons with vegetation model output possible . The model corrects for biases caused by e.g. inter-taxonomic differences in pollen productivity and dispersal. Our results show that pollen percentages, a traditional indicator of land cover changes, generally underestimate the unforested areas and certain broad-leaved trees such as Corylus and Tilia, while they often overestimate Betula and Pinus (see Cui et al. BG 6.2). Climate models use simplified land-surface classifications (plant functional types (PFTs)), such as grass (i.e. open land), deciduous trees, and conifers. Therefore, the observed large discrepancies in past land cover between the REVEALS estimates and pollen percentages are expected to influence model outcomes of the Holocene regional climate in NW Europe. The LANDCLIM project and research network (sponsored by the Swedish [VR] and Nordic [NordForsk] Research Councils) aim to quantify human-induced changes in regional vegetation/land-cover in NW Europe during the Holocene, and to evaluate the effects of these changes on the regional climate through altered feedbacks. We use the REVEALS model, theoretically derived and empirically tested, to estimate the percentage cover of taxa and groups of taxa (PFTs) from fossil pollen data for selected time windows of the Holocene, at a spatial resolution

This article focuses on issues of childhood identity and urban environment. It discusses how a performance art pedagogy inspired by nomadic and relational aesthetics can provide a framework to promote creative learning experiences that address migratory conditions and forms of public alienation lived by young people today. As Lefebvre (1991)…

In May 2007, the Instituto Carso de la Salud—now Instituto Carlos Slim de la Salud (ICSS)—was endowed with US$500 million to focus on priority health issues in Latin America, notably issues of ‘globalisation and non-communicable diseases’. ICSS was soon criticised, however, on the grounds that its funding was derived from tobacco industry profits and that its founder Carlos Slim Hélu remained an active industry principal. Collaboration with ICSS was said to run counter to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The Institute's then Executive President Julio Frenk disputed these charges. This research employs an archive of tobacco industry documents triangulated with materials from commercial, media, regulatory and NGO sources to examine the financial relations between Slim and the tobacco industry. The paper analyses Slim's continuing service to the industry and role in ICSS. It demonstrates a prima facie conflict of interest between ICSS's health mission and its founder's involvement in cigarette manufacturing and marketing, reflected on ICSS's website as a resounding silence on issues of tobacco and health. It is concluded that the reliance of international health agencies upon the commercial sector requires more robust institutional policies to effectively regulate conflicts of interest. PMID:21088061

Project Salud evaluates the efficacy of a community-based intervention to reduce risk behaviors and enhance factors for HIV-preventative behaviors. A randomized controlled trial of 278 high risk Latino migrant workers was conducted between 2008 and 2010. Participants completed an audio computer-assisted self-interview questionnaire at baseline and 3- and 9-month post-intervention follow-ups. Participants were randomly assigned to the community-based intervention (A-SEMI) or the health promotion condition (HPC). Both interventions consisted of four 2.5–hour interactive sessions and were structurally equivalent in administration and format. Relative to the comparison condition, A-SEMI participants reported more consistent condom use, were less likely to report never having used condoms, and were more likely to have used condoms at last sexual encounter during the past 90 and 30 days. A-SEMI participants also experienced a positive change in regard to factors for HIV-preventive behaviors over the entire 9-month period. Our results support the implementation of community-based, culturally tailored interventions among Latino migrant workers. PMID:24059875

The promotor de salud, or community health worker (CHW) role, is highly feminized and little is known about how men view their participation in CHW programs. We conducted in-depth interviews with Latino men in North Carolina to explore this gap. We used systematic coding and display procedures informed by Grounded Theory to analyze the data. Men described their communities as lacking cohesion, making integration of Latino immigrants difficult. Most did not consider themselves leaders or feel they had leaders in their communities. Their perceptions of the feminized CHW role as well as the volunteer or low-paid nature of CHW work conflicted with men's provider role. They also did not think they could perform the CHW role because they lacked education, skills, and broad networks. Efforts to increase male participation in CHW programs in new Latino immigrant destinations will need to understand and address these gender and migration-related dynamics in order to engage both women and men in improving the health of their communities. PMID:24989349

The promotor de salud, or community health worker (CHW) role, is highly feminized and little is known about how men view their participation in CHW programs. We conducted in-depth interviews with Latino men in North Carolina to explore this gap. We used systematic coding and display procedures informed by Grounded Theory to analyze the data. Men described their communities as lacking cohesion, making integration of Latino immigrants difficult. Most did not consider themselves leaders or feel they had leaders in their communities. Their perceptions of the feminized CHW role as well as the volunteer or low-paid nature of CHW work conflicted with men’s provider role. They also did not think they could perform the CHW role because they lacked education, skills, and broad networks. Efforts to increase male participation in CHW programs in new Latino immigrant destinations will need to understand and address these gender and migration-related dynamics in order to engage both women and men in improving the health of their communities. PMID:24989349

This paper reviews a successful community-based education effort to minimize pesticide exposure to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families through innovative training curricula, informal participatory educational techniques and culturally sensitive outreach methods. In 2004, Migrant Clinicians Network, Inc., trained lay health educators, or promotoras de salud, from local agencies in southern New Mexico in pesticide safety and in ways to successfully promote safety information in the farmworker community. Through home visits and small group workshops, the promotoras trained 273 farmworkers and farmworker family members on ways to reduce exposures to pesticides in their homes and at work, with an emphasis on protecting children. The families received a Spanish language comic book that reinforced the pesticide safety information, emphasizing the health effects of acute and chronic pesticide exposure and steps to protect farmworker children from pesticide exposure. The project resulted in a significant increase in knowledge regarding the routes of exposure, the vulnerability of children, the signs and symptoms of pesticide poisonings and the ways to minimize pesticide exposures. Additionally, the project showed improved behaviors aimed at minimizing pesticide exposure through accidental poisonings in the home. This pilot project proved the efficacy of an in-home, one-on-one approach with a culturally appropriate educational comic book as an instrument to help transfer education to the community. Moreover, the educational method involving promotoras offers a training-of- trainer approach that is easy to implement and potentially replicate. PMID:18086652

O.S.A.L.A.N.-Instituto Vasco de Seguridad y Salud Laborales is an autonomous administrative body depending on the Basque Government, ascribed to the Dept. of Justice, Economy, Work and Social Security, which is in charge of managing the general occupational health policies in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. Its objectives are: To promote an ongoing improvement in safety and occupational health for all the workers in the Basque Autonomous Region, through the management of programmes in matters affecting safety, hygiene, the environment and occupational health. To co-ordinate and concentrate the different activities related to occupational health, unifying and giving coherence to the functions which were previously the jurisdiction of different departments. Making companies aware of national and E.U. regulations, taking the measures that are set out by the European Directives and the Prevention of Occupational Hazards Act and the rest of the employment regulations, establishing the training and information channels required for promoting and applying these in the companies. It acts: from an overall perspective as regards the prevention of occupational hazards, thanks to co-ordination with all the disciplines involved, applying a multi-disciplinary treatment to the study of each and every one of the occupational hazard factors, which is aimed at the prevention of risks at their source. Providing companies with the ideal means for managing the safety and health of their workers. Promoting the implementation of systems which guarantee an ongoing improvement in occupational safety and health in the companies of the Basque Autonomous Region. Providing the technical and research support that makes it possible to tackle prevention efficiently. The provision established in the Creation Act (O.S.A.L.A.N.) should also be mentioned, as regards its application in public administration and the field of social economy, which was later endorsed and ratified through

Hydrological processes in the humid tropics are poorly understood and an important topic when it comes to water management in the seasonal tropics. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama Canal Watershed Experiment, Agua Salud Project, seeks to understand these processes and quantify the long-term effects of different land cover and uses across the Panama Canal Watershed. One of the project’s main objectives is to understand how reforestation effects seasonal stream flows. To meet this objective, a baseline characterization of hydrology on the small catchment scale is being assessed across different land uses typical in rural Panama. The small experimental catchments are found within Panama’s protected Soberania National Park and the adjacent headwaters of the Agua Salud and Mendoza Rivers, all of which are part of the greater Panama Canal Watershed. The land uses being monitored include a variety of control catchments as well as treated pasture sites. The catchments used for this study include a mature old regrowth forest, a 50% deforested or mosaic regrowth site, an active pasture and a monoculture invasive grass site (saccharum spontaneum) as experimental controls and two treated catchments that were recently abandoned pastures converted to teak and native species timber plantations. Installed instrumentation includes a network of rain gauges, v-notched weirs, atmometers, an eddy covariance system and an assortment of meteorological and automated geochemical sampling systems. Spatial, rainfall, runoff and ET data across these six geologically and topographically similar catchments are available from 2009 and 2010. Classic water balance and paired catchment techniques were used to compare the catchments on an annual, seasonal, and event basis. This study sets the stage for hydrologic modeling and for better understanding the effects of vegetation and land-use history on rainfall-runoff processes for the Agua Salud Project and Panama Canal

A bilingual vocational training program was instituted to provide fifty-six Spanish- and Chinese-speaking students with a chance to acquire English language skills and training as medical clerks simultaneously. Community benefits expected and evident need in the area for bilingual medical-clerical employees led to the choice of this field. The…

This article takes stock of how promoting health (PH) (promoción de la salud - PS) has been understood within an international setting and gives three meanings for promotion: as general policy orientation, as a set of actions and as a special dimension of sanitary work. Interest expressed in giving it a specific basis distinguishing it from prevention, transcending educational work, has emerged from the subtle differences established from such different ways of coming to terms with PH. After recognising the challenge posed by PH in the field of health, the text succinctly describes how discourse regarding PH has been introduced in Colombia and discusses how an attempt has been made to be more precise regarding its place in the general health-related social security system. Efforts currently being made in Colombia regarding making PH become a reality within the Colombian health system are then mentioned. PMID:17361582

Despite the unique and challenging circumstances confronting Latino migrant worker communities in the U.S., debate still exists as to the need to culturally adapt evidence-based interventions for dissemination with this population. Project Salud adopted a community-based participatory research model and utilized focus group methodology with 83 Latino migrant workers to explore the relevance of culturally adapting an evidence-based HIV prevention intervention to be disseminated within this population. Findings from this study indicate that, despite early reservations, Latino migrant workers wanted to participate in the cultural adaptation that would result in an intervention that was culturally relevant, respectful, responsive to their life experiences, and aligned with their needs. This study contributes to the cultural adaptation/fidelity debate by highlighting the necessity of exploring ways to develop culturally adapted interventions characterized by high cultural relevance without sacrificing high fidelity to the core components that have established efficacy for evidence-based HIV prevention interventions. PMID:24489998

Introduction In Mexico, cardiovascular disease and its risk factors are growing problems and major public health concerns. The objective of this study was to implement cardiovascular health promotion and disease prevention activities of the Salud para su Corazón model in a high-risk, impoverished, urban community in Mexico City. Methods We used a pretest–posttest (baseline to 12-week follow-up) design without a control group. Material from Salud para su Corazón was validated and delivered by promotores (community health workers) to community members from 6 geographic areas. Two validated, self-administered questionnaires that assessed participants’ knowledge and behaviors relating to heart health were administered. We used t tests and χ2 tests to evaluate pretest and posttest differences, by age group (≤60 and >60 years), for participants’ 3 heart-healthy habits, 3 types of physical activity, performance skills, and anthropometric and clinical measurements. Results A total of 452 (82%) adult participants completed the program. Heart-healthy habits from pretest to posttest varied by age group. “Taking action” to modify lifestyle behaviors increased among adults aged 60 or younger from 31.5% to 63.0% (P < .001) and among adults older than 60 from 30.0% to 45.0% (P < .001). Positive responses for cholesterol and fat consumption reduction were seen among participants 60 or younger (P = .03). Among those older than 60, salt reduction and weight control increased (P = .008). Mean blood glucose concentration among adults older than 60 decreased postintervention (P = .03). Conclusion Significant improvements in some heart-healthy habits were seen among adult participants. The model has potential to improve heart-healthy habits and facilitate behavioral change among high-risk adults. PMID:25764140

Health care discrimination is increasingly considered a significant barrier to accessing health services among minority populations, including Latinos. However, little is known about the role of immigration status. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between immigration status and perceived health care discrimination among Latinos living in rural areas. Interviews were conducted among 349 young-adult Latinos (ages 18 to 25) living in rural Oregon, as part of Proyecto de Salud para Latinos. Over a third of participants experienced health care discrimination (39.5 %). Discrimination was higher among foreign-born (44.9 %) rather than US-born Latinos (31.9 %). Multivariate results showed that foreign-born Latinos were significantly more likely to experience health care discrimination, even after controlling for other relevant factors (OR = 2.10, 95 % CI 1.16-3.82). This study provides evidence that health care discrimination is prevalent among young-adult Latinos living in rural areas, particularly the foreign-born. Effective approaches towards reducing discrimination in health care settings should take into consideration the need to reform our broken immigration system. PMID:26399772

Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud was a successful family-based randomized controlled trial designed to improve dietary behaviors and intake among U.S. Latino families, specifically fruit and vegetable intake. The novel intervention design merged a community health worker (promotora) model with an entertainment-education component. This process evaluation examined intervention implementation and assessed relationships between implementation factors and dietary change. Participants included 180 mothers randomized to an intervention condition. Process evaluation measures were obtained from participant interviews and promotora notes and included fidelity, dose delivered (i.e., minutes of promotora in-person contact with families, number of promotora home visits), and dose received (i.e., participant use of and satisfaction with intervention materials). Outcome variables included changes in vegetable intake and the use of behavioral strategies to increase dietary fiber and decrease dietary fat intake. Participant satisfaction was high, and fidelity was achieved; 87.5% of families received the planned number of promotora home visits. In the multivariable model, satisfaction with intervention materials predicted more frequent use of strategies to increase dietary fiber (p ≤ .01). Trends suggested that keeping families in the prescribed intervention timeline and obtaining support from other social network members through sharing of program materials may improve changes. Study findings elucidate the relationship between specific intervention processes and dietary changes. PMID:25810469

The development of scientific health research requires a sustained and articulated research system that is consistent with the research priorities, as well as both internal and external funding, and availability of competent human resources. The Mining Canon, a constitutional right, has been partly used to foster applied scientific research in public universities (PU). In addition, the National Health Institute (INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE SALUD - INS) is devoted, among others, to promoting, managing and disseminating health research development at a national level. As part of these activities, a technical team was created to provide technical assistance to PU for research development using Mining Canon funds by making local adjustments to research protocols promoted by the INS and assumed by the professors-researchers at the Universities. This article aims at describing the reality of research at Peruvian public universities that have access to Mining Canon funds, as well as to elaborate on the work the INS is carrying out in order to strengthen research capabilities, starting with the development of research proposals that could potentially be funded by the Mining Canon. PMID:23338644

As a part of the Agua Salud Project, a baseline characterization of hydrologic processes on the small catchment scale (~0.24 to 2.0 km2) is assessed across different land uses and covers typical to rural Panama. The land covers being monitored include a mature secondary forest, a disturbed catchment with a mosaic of various aged secondary growth and agricultural use, an active pasture and a monoculture invasive grass site as experimental controls, and two treated catchments that were recently abandoned pastures converted to teak and native species timber plantations. The catchments are found within Panama's protected Soberania National Park and the adjacent headwaters of the Agua Salud and Mendoza Rivers, all part of the greater Panama Canal Watershed. Using hydrological data from the first two and a half years of the project, three main ecosystem services are observed. The forested area exhibited lower storm event peaks, decreased flashiness, and greater stream flow during the dry season compared to the disturbed mosaic site. Lower hydrograph peaks and flashiness mitigate the risk of substantial flood damage during the major flood events generally seen in Panama between October and December. The mature forest (1.35 km2) catchment has shown lower average flood peaks in comparison to the disturbed site. For storm peaks less than 6 mm/hr, flood peaks are on average 51% lower. For storm peaks greater than 6 mm/hr, flood peaks are approximately 40% lower. In 1998, draft restrictions were imposed in the Panama Canal because of a deficit of dry season water after an El Niño-Southern Oscillation resulted in decreased wet season rainfall. The water that is available during the end of the dry season has the potential to insure the full operation of the Canal during El Niño drought years. Toward the end of the dry season (March through May) our data shows that roughly 34% more water was available during a relatively dry year with respect to antecedent wet season rainfall

As the cultural and linguistic diversity of the United States continues to grow and population shifts transform the communities where we live and work, health care providers continue to face challenges to deliver health services in demographically redefined terrains. This report describes the development of a Spanish-language training guide for community health workers (Guía de Capacitación para Promotoras de Salud) based on the book Nuestros Cuerpos, Nuestras Vidas (NCNV), the Spanish-language translation and cultural adaptation of the classic women's health book Our Bodies, Ourselves. The guide aims to 1) provide a tool for addressing the health education needs of immigrant Latinas and 2) facilitate the use of the book NCNV as a health education tool in Latino communities. Thirty telephone interviews with individuals working in agencies and organizations serving Latinos and 2 focus groups with Latinas were conducted to select the topics included in the training guide, all of which were drawn directly from NCNV. The guide contains 11 modules organized into 6 workshops. The modules address 11 topics related to women's health, ranging from sexuality and pregnancy to domestic violence and mental health. An ecological framework is used to deliver the health information. The materials acknowledge the roles of history, environment, culture, economic conditions, migration history, and politics as key determinants of health and illness. The workshops are designed to train community health workers on the women's health topics contained in the guide and to equip them for the delivery of health education among immigrant Latinas. PMID:22432491

Mexican Americans along the US-Mexico border have been found to be disproportionately affected by chronic diseases particularly related to lack of physical activity and healthful food choices. A community-wide campaign (CWC) is an evidence-based strategy to address these behaviors but with few examples of implementation in Mexican descent populations facing profound health disparities. We examined exposure to a CWC, titled Tu Salud ¡Sí Cuenta!, and its association with meeting the recommended minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity weekly and consuming more portions of fruits and vegetables daily. A cross-sectional sample of 1438 Mexican descent participants was drawn from a city-wide, randomly-selected cohort interviewed between the years 2008 and 2012. Multivariable comparisons of participants exposed and not exposed to the CWC and meeting physical activity guidelines or their fruit and vegetable consumptions using mixed effects models were conducted. The community-wide campaign components included different forms of mass media and individually-focused components such as community health worker (CHW) home visits. After adjusting for gender, age, marital status, educational attainment, language preference, health insurance, and diabetes diagnosis, the strongest association was found between meeting physical activity guidelines and exposure to both CHW discussions and radio messages (adjusted OR = 3.83; 95% CI = [1.28, 6.21]; p = 0.0099). Participants who reported exposure to both radio and TV messages consumed more portions of fruits and vegetables than those who reported no exposure (adjusted RR = 1.30; 95% CI = [1.02, 1.66]; p = 0.0338). This study provides insights into the implementation and behavioral outcomes associated with exposure to a community-wide campaign, a potential model for addressing lifestyle modifications in populations affected by health disparities. PMID:26347959

This thesis explores the potential impacts of a climate change due to the greenhouse gases on the state and the evolution of the permafrost in the Canadian North. The permafrost represents the half of the Canadian national territory and a change of its current state will echo in all spheres of activity, on the biosphere and on the environment generally. In spite of the evident importance of the subject, there is no precise idea as to how the permafrost will react to the climate change and to what extent the frozen layer will be disrupted. This thesis investigates this problem by using a methodological approach inspired by the Canadian model on the evolution of permafrost (TTOP) coupled with a theoretical approach based on the theory of the complex neuronal systems. The general objective of this thesis is to improve the Canadian model of evolution of permafrost (TTOP-Temperature one the Top Of Permafrost) created by Smith and Riseborough in 1996, its structure of computation, spatial resolution and to determine the state of the permafrost in the study area between 2010 and 2100. The study zone is situated in the Mackenzie Basin (N-W.T) on a north-south transect of 1440 by 720 km. The first objective of the research is to derive maps of the annual values of temperature on the top of the permafrost from 2010 to 2100 by using an improved dynamic model of the evolution of permafrost (TTOP-A). Thereafter, these values are compared with those obtained by Smith and Riseborough (1996). The values of the evolution of air temperature for this period are supplied by the climatic scenarios CGCM32 SRES A1B, CGCM3 SRES A2 and CGCM3 SRES B1. Secondly, this thesis has as an objective the production of the maps of the thickness of permafrost for 2100 with a spatial resolution of 25 km. More exactly, we determine the evolution of the values of thickness of permafrost for the three climatic scenarios mentioned above. Furthermore, the study proposes: i) a new method for downscaling of climate data by using a Determined Stochastic Model, ii) the integration of soil type, iii) the integration of the soil humidity, iv) the integration of the values of thickness of the snow layer and v) the integration of remote sensing data (SSM/I). As a rule, the results obtained by the TTOP-A model reveal that the mean values of temperature at the surface of the permafrost follow closely the values of air temperature and that they are similar to those found by Smith and Riseborough (1996) and Heginbottom and coll. (1995). Also, the differences of the values of temperature on the surface of permafrost between 2010 and 2100 are similar to the values published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Concerning the second objective of this thesis, the spatio-temporal dynamics of the permafrost until 2100 demonstrates that, in the study zone, the surface perturbed by global warming will be 37 %, 60 % and 29 % according to the scenarios CGCM3 SRES A1B, CGCM3 SRES A2 and CGCM3 SRES B1 respectively. The permafrost layer inside this zone will disappear by 20 %, 32 % and 18 % according to the scenarios mentioned before. These results lead us to believe that the estimations made by Smith and Riseborough were overvalued in the context of two of three current climates scenarios compared to that of the 1996. Finally, this study demonstrates that the method of downscaling of climate data using the neuronal network within a Determined Stochastic Model gives good results and it represents a reliable option which lends itself to large-scale generalizations. Keywords: permafrost, downscaling, snow, soil humidity, climate scenarios, neuronal network, Determined Stochastic Model, climate change, CGCM3, TTOP. 2The third generation Coupled Global Climate Model [CCCma, 2010].

The present work is based on various filtered maps (horizontal derivative, upward continuation) and Euler deconvolution of the gravity data from northeastern Morocco. These results allow the delineation of many geological structures, such as faults, basins, or diapirs. Some of these structures are hidden totally or partially by the Mesozoic and Cenozoic cover. The results were used to make a structural map of the study area; this map confirms the existence of several faults, localised or inferred, from former geological studies. It complements information on some of them and outlines a great number of deep or near-surface faults that had remained unknown until the present time. The major features show two principal directions: N080°-085° and N055°-065°, with a predominance of the latter, and their depth can reach 4500 m. The N080°-085° directions correspond to the Kebdana, Sidi Bouhouria, Naima, and Guefait faults, and the N055°-065° directions correspond to a fault parallel to the Mediterranean coast and the Moulouya, Madagh, Angad, and Zekkara faults.

These three booklets on family and child health are part of a series of 22 booklets specifically designed to help parents understand their children and help them to learn. "The Effects of Stress on Parents and Family Life" (booklet #17), covers issues such as causes and effects of stress, stress and our modern society, and coping with stress. In…

Observing sub-polar ecosystems is important as they are suspected to change significantly in response to the expected increase in temperature for the next decades. To bypass the lack of meteorological stations in the Northern High Latitudes, remote sensing is an interesting alternative tool, covering almost the entire area. This project deals with the development of a method to derive surface parameters (>50°N) from satellite data. For this study, brightness temperature data acquired by the SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave Imager) in the microwave spectrum are used because they are independent of solar radiation and weakly influenced by the atmosphere. Methods used are based on brightness temperatures measured at 19 and 37 GHz, which allow to derive three geophysical parameters related to climate variability: daily maps of snowcover between 1988 and 2002; a water surface extent (open water, small lakes, reservoirs, wetlands associated with low vegetation); a temperature characterizing the surface and the air above the ground. A method to normalize the temperature is presented to overcome the variation of the time of measurement. It leads to hourly series of temperature, This allows to study climate indicators such as the annual sum of positive degree days. Trends confirm observed climate evolution: increase of surface temperature (+0.8 +/- 0.4°C for Canada/Alaska between 1992 and 2002), decrease in snow extent cover. These original databases could also be useful for validation of regional climate model. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This bilingual manual serves as a textbook for migrant Camp Health Aides. Camp Health Aides are members of migrant labor camps enlisted to provide information about health and social services to migrant workers and their families. The manual is divided into 12 tabbed sections representing lessons. Teaching notes printed on contrasting paper…

U.S. childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with one third of children overweight or obese. Latino children have some of the highest obesity rates, a concern because they are part of the youngest and fastest-growing U.S. minority group. Unfortunately, scarce research data on Latinos hinders the development and implementation of…

This book is part of a Mexican series of instructional materials designed for Spanish speaking adults who are in the process of becoming literate or have recently become literate in their native language. It provides instruction on knowing about, and caring for, the health of one's family. Topics covered include community health, pregnancy,…

Effects of the “Amoco Cadiz ” oil spill on the sublittoral benthos, north of Brittany. Effects of hydrocarbons on the sublittoral macrobenthic communities have been observed through (1) studies of population dynamics of selected communities, conducted prior to the spill by the tanker “Amoco Cadiz ” in spring 1978 and (2) comparisons between the situation in summer 1978 with that in earlier years, with continuation of the observations in some selected sites. The effect of the spill has been selective, involving a limited number of species, mainly crustaceans, molluscs and the sand-urchin Echinocardium cordatum. The spill mainly affected communities on fine sediments and, to a lesser degree, those on mixed sediments. Notably, the destruction of the dominant populations of Ampelisca, in areas of fine sands in the Bay of Morlaix, has led to a marked decrease of biomass and production. Moreover, repopulation will be difficult because of the isolation of such communities on the southern side of the English Channel. The effects evolved with time; after a phase of sharp and selective mortality, which did not last more than a few weeks, secondary effects on the recruitment of the remaining species do not seem to have occurred on a large scale. Nevertheless, a proliferation of polychaetes has been noticed.

Background Cross-sectional studies suggest associations between abnormal lipid levels and prevalence of low back pain (LBP), but it is not known if there is any causal relationship. Objective The objective was to determine, in a population-based prospective cohort study, whether there is any relation between levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides and the probability of experiencing subsequent chronic (LBP), both among individuals with and without LBP at baseline. Methods Information was collected in the community-based HUNT 2 (1995–1997) and HUNT 3 (2006–2008) surveys of an entire Norwegian county. Participants were 10,151 women and 8731 men aged 30–69 years, not affected by chronic LBP at baseline, and 3902 women and 2666 men with LBP at baseline. Eleven years later the participants indicated whether they currently suffered from chronic LBP. Results Among women without LBP at baseline, HDL cholesterol levels were inversely associated and triglyceride levels positively associated with the risk of chronic LBP at end of follow-up in analyses adjusted for age only. Adjustment for the baseline factors education, work status, physical activity, smoking, blood pressure and in particular BMI largely removed these associations (RR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.85–1.07 per mmol/l of HDL cholesterol; RR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.94–1.42 per unit of lg(triglycerides)). Total cholesterol levels showed no associations. In women with LBP at baseline and men without LBP at baseline weaker relationships were observed. In men with LBP at baseline, an inverse association with HDL cholesterol remained after complete adjustment (RR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.72–0.95 per mmol/l). Conclusion Crude associations between lipid levels and risk of subsequent LBP in individuals without current LBP are mainly caused by confounding with body mass. However, an association with low HDL levels may still remain in men who are already affected and possibly experience a higher pain intensity. PMID:25233233

Field study and SPOT image analyses on the Tondano caldera region permit us to show a distributed active sinistral strike-slip fault zone which trends ENE- WSW This faulting accommodates the N-S movement of the Celebes Sea plate and represents a transfer fault zone between the Celebes sea subduetion end and the Moluccas sea subduetion zone. Furthermore, this study permits us to provide evidence for a tectonic control of the Tondano caldera collapse and evolution.

Background Recent reports of transmission interruption of Onchocerca volvulus, the causing agent of river blindness, in former endemic foci in the Americas, and more recently in West and East Africa, raise the question whether elimination of this debilitating disease is underway after long-term treatment of the population at risk with ivermectin. The situation in Central Africa has not yet been clearly assessed. Methods and findings Entomologic data from two former endemic river basins in North Cameroon were generated over a period of 43 and 48 months to follow-up transmission levels in areas under prolonged ivermectin control. Moreover, epidemiologic parameters of animal-borne Onchocerca spp. transmitted by the same local black fly vectors of the Simulium damnosum complex were recorded and their impact on O. volvulus transmission success evaluated. With mitochondrial DNA markers we unambiguously confirmed the presence of infective O. volvulus larvae in vectors from the Sudan savannah region (mean Annual Transmission Potential 2009–2012: 98, range 47–221), but not from the Adamawa highland region. Transmission rates of O. ochengi, a parasite of Zebu cattle, were high in both foci. Conclusions/significance The high cattle livestock density in conjunction with the high transmission rates of the bovine filaria O. ochengi prevents the transmission of O. volvulus on the Adamawa plateau, whereas transmission in a former hyperendemic focus was markedly reduced, but not completely interrupted after 25 years of ivermectin control. This study may be helpful to gauge the impact of the presence of animal-filariae for O. volvulus transmission in terms of the growing human and livestock populations in sub-Saharan countries. PMID:26926855

Examines intercultural communication between Italians and speakers of Italian in North America. Argues intercultural communicative competence comprises three elements: deep cultural values or "mental software"; non-verbal means of communication; and language. Offers advice to teachers of Italian who want to help their students develop…

The CO2/SO2 ratio in volcanic plumes of open conduit volcanoes can provide useful information about the magma depth inside a conduit and the possible occurrence of an eruptive event. Moreover, the same CO2 measurement when combined with a SO2 flux measurement, commonly carried out at many volcanoes nowadays, is used to contribute to an improved estimate of global volcanic CO2 budget. Today worldwide at 13 volcanoes automated in-situ instruments (known as Multi-GAS stations) are applied to continuously determine CO2/SO2 ratios and to use this signal as additional parameter for volcanic monitoring. Usually these instruments carry out measurements of half an hour 4 - 6 times/day and thus provide continuous CO2/SO2 values and their variability. The stations are located at crater rims in a position that according to the prevailing winds is invested by the plume. Obviously, although the stations are carefully positioned, it is inevitable that other sources than the plume itself, e.g. soil degassing and surrounding fumaroles, contribute and will be measured as well, covering the 'real' values. Between July and September 2014 experiments were carried out on the North East crater (NEC) of Mount Etna, installing a self-made cable car that crossed the crater from one side to the other. The basket, called "Arcadia", was equipped with an automated standard Multi-GAS station and a GPS, which acquired at high frequency (0.5 Hz) the following parameters : CO2, SO2, H2S, Rh, T, P and geo-coordinates. The choice of NEC of the volcano Etna was based on its accessibility, the relative small diameter (about 230 m) and the presence of a relatively constant and rather concentrated plume. Actually, NEC belongs also to the monitoring network EtnaPlume (managed by the INGV of Palermo). The aim of these experiments was to observe variations of each parameter, in particular the fluctuation of the CO2/SO2 ratio within the plume, moving from the edge to the center of the crater. The gained results give a first possibility to understand if common measurements carried out at the edge of a crater are subject to over- or underestimation and about the order of derivations caused by other sources than the plume. A preliminary analysis results in a lower CO2/SO2 ratio in the central part of the crater versus the more peripheral one. The deviation between the average CO2/SO2 ratio and the center of the plume ranges from a minimum of 58% up to a maximum of 74%. An increased CO2/SO2 emission could be caused by the influence of soil and/or fumarolic degassing at the crater rim. This interpretation leads us to the conclusion that measurements by fixed installed stations might overestimate the CO2/SO2 ratio compared to values originating from the "pure" plume. Further on, it means that variations of up to 74 % (in our experiment) don't necessarily correlate with volcanic activity changes.

New polyneopteran insects are described from Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian, Moscovian) compressed fossils from the North of France (Insecta: Archaeorthoptera). Discovery of wing apex with distinct venation, e.g., apical fusion of RA with RP, numerous parallel posterior branches of RP with transversal crossveins, can be assigned to cf. Tococladus sp. (Cnemidolestodea: Tococladidae). It represents the second record of Cnemidolestodea from the Avion locality apart from Aviocladus pectinatus Prokop et al., 2014. Bruaylogus magnificus gen. et sp. nov., based on forewing venation, is attributed to Panorthoptera nec Orthoptera having some distinct characters for the placement either close to Oedischiidae or a more basal position possibly with affinities to genus Heterologus. Aviologus duquesnei gen. et sp. nov., based on forewing venation, differs from Oedischiidae by the presence of basal fork of M far from point of separation between M and Cu and fusion of MA with first posterior branch of RP. Aviologus share a long stem of M and simple CuPaβ with Heterologus duyiwuer and H. langfordorum, but both differ in well separated median and radial veins. These new fossils demonstrate that the archaeorthopterid insect fauna from the North of France was rather diverse with links to late Carboniferous and early Permian assemblages in Euramerica such as the Mazon Creek, Carbondale Formation or Elmo, Wellington Formation (Illinois, Kansas, USA) entomofaunas. PMID:25544457

Remote sensing and security, terms which are not usually associated, have found a common platform this decade with the conjuring of the GMOSS network (Global Monitoring for Security and Stability), whose mandate is to discover new applications for satellite-derived imagery to security issues. This study focuses on human security, concentrating on the characterisation of vulnerable areas to conflict. A time-series of satellite imagery taken from Landsat sensors from 1987 to 2001 and the SRTM mission imagery are used for this purpose over a site in northern Iraq. Human security issues include the exposure to any type of hazard. The region of study is first characterised in order to understand which hazards are and were present in the past for the region of study. The principal hazard for the region of study is armed conflict and the relative field data was analysed to determine the links between geographical indicators and vulnerable areas. This is done through historical research and the study of open-sourced information about disease outbreaks; the movements of refugees and the internally displaced; and humanitarian aid and security issues. These open sources offer information which are not always consistent, objective, or normalized and are therefore difficult to quantify. A method for the rapid mapping and graphing and subsequent analysis of the situation in a region where limited information is available is developed. This information is coupled with population numbers to create a "risk map": A disaggregated matrix of areas most at risk during conflict situations. The results show that describing the risk factor for a population to the hazard conflict depends on three complex indicators: Population density, remoteness and economic diversity. Each of these complex indicators is then derived from Landsat and SRTM imagery and a satellite-driven model is formulated. This model based on satellite imagery is applied to the study site for a temporal study. The output are three 90 m x 90 m resolution grids which describe, at a pixel level, the risk level within the region for each of the dates studies, and the changes which occur in northern Iraq as the result of the Anfal Campaigns. Results show that satellite imagery, with a minimum of processing, can yield indicators for characterising risk in a region. Although by no means a replacement for field data, this technological source, in the absence of local knowledge, can provide users with a starting point in understanding which areas are most at risk within a region. If this data is coupled with open sourced information such as political and cultural discrimination, economy and agricultural practices, a fairly accurate risk map can be generated in the absence of field data. Keywords. SRTM, Landsat, risk indicators, Iraq, conflict, population vulnerability, segmentation, land-use, fuzzy-classification, atmospheric corrections.

In the present context of climate change and preservation of biodiversity, the appreciation of the vulnerability of the natural ecosystems and their capacity of adaptation appears among the main preoccupations to the world level (GIEC, 2007). This assessment of the ecosystems requires the availability of climatic data, what is often made difficult by the weak density or even the absence of meteorological stations notably, to the level of the mountains zones. In order to study the climate-vegetation relationship in North Algeria, we use an automatic interpolation method, the neural network method, for the reconstitution of climatic data of the sampled sites, (1035 phytoecological samples), from the existing meteorological network (269 stations). This method is characterized by a great suppleness of non-linearity and by its capacity for reconstituting information from partial and not well-defined indications such as the case of data provided from meteorological networks. In order to reconstitution of climatic data, we use the explicate variables, longitude, latitude and altitude, the variables to explain being the rainfall and temperatures. To define the best approach, the network calibration has been activated on climatic parameters taken globally or solely, for the whole of study zone, and by geographical sector. The results of the interpolation are expressed through a climatic parameter cartography, released automatically by the MapInfo software. The reliability results obtained by this method can be appreciated by elaboration of errors maps comparing to reference data.

The Edough Massif is the easternmost crystalline core of the Maghrebides that represents the African segment of the west Mediterranean Alpine belt. U-Pb zircon dating provides upper intercept ages of 595 ± 51 My and 606 ± 55 My for an orthogneiss of the lower unit and a deformed leucogranite of the upper pelitic unit, respectively. These ages suggest emplacement of the two granitoids during the Pan-African orogeny. Monazites from a paragneiss sample gave a 18 ± 5 My U-Pb age that points to a Miocene age of the high-temperature metamorphism.

A historical Cd pollution of the Lot-Garonne River system (France) bas led to the contamination of sediment and water of the Gironde Estuary. In spite of the decrease of fluvial Cd inputs since the early 90ies, Cd concentrations in the Gironde oysters remain higher than European norms (5 μg.g^{-1} dry mass) and the “zone D” classification of the estuary prohibits bivalve production and harvesting for human consumption. A geochemical survey in salt marshes used for aquaculture (crustaceans) has been conducted in order to assess the heavy métal contamination level in these systems periodically alimented by the Gironde water, accompanied by caging experiments on three bivalve species of economical interest: oysters (Crassostrea gigas), cockles (Cerastoderma edule) and clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) to study heavy metal accumulation in these organisms. Distribution of heavy metals in this system is controlled by biogeochemical processes and is independent of routine water management. Contamination levels in the studied species indicate the high accumulation of Cd by oysters. On the other hand, Cd concentrations in benthic species, such as cockles and clams, are clearly lower than European safety limits for human consumption.

In connection with installation of two natural gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany, there has been concern regarding potential re-suspension of historically dumped chemical warfare agents (CWA) in a nearby dump site and the potential environmental risks associated. 192 sediment and 11 porewater samples were analyzed for CWA residues, both parent and metabolites in 2008 and 2010 along the pipeline corridor next to the dump site. Macrozoobenthos and background variables were also collected and compared to the observed CWA levels and predicted potential risks. Detection frequencies and levels of intact CWA found were low, whereas CWA metabolites were more frequently found. Re-suspension of CWA residue-containing sediment from installation of the pipelines contributes marginally to the overall background CWA residue exposure and risk along the pipeline route. The multivariate weight-of-evidence analysis showed that physical and background parameters of the sediment were of higher importance for the biota than observed CWA levels. PMID:22440539

Water has always been of central concern to life in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Burgeoning populations are placing unprecendented pressures on the resource, calling urgently for new approaches to water planning and management if escalating conflicts are to be avoided and if environmental degradation is to be reversed. The booklet sets out the implications of the new Bank policy for the MENA region, calling for a concerted effort by government and Bank staff to address water resources in a coordinated and sustainable manner. It proposes a practical, step-by-step approach to achieving this objective that could lead to new Bank-supported operations to address the water sector as a whole.

In 1988 and 1990, the reactor pressure vessels of Units 1 and 2, respectively, of the Greifswald nuclear power station were subjected to heat treatment at 475 C for annealing of irradiation effects. To demonstrate the effect of annealing and to evaluate a new postannealing transition temperature of vessel base metal and weld metal, boat samples were removed by means of electric discharge machining (EDM) from the (unclad) inner surface of the vessel. From these samples, micronotched bar impact test specimens were fabricated and tested at different temperature. Transition curves were evaluated from the results. By means of correlation tests, the transition temperatures evaluated from the micro-specimen tests are converted to standard Charpy-5 transition temperatures. Results are available for the weld metal of Unit 1 after annealing. The transition temperature T{sub k} is lower than the value calculated by the designer of the plant. Specimens removed from Unit 2 before and after annealing are in preparation.

The multiscale wavelet analysis has been applied to the gravity data from northeastern Morocco to map the major geological contacts, such us faults. Hence, the faults affecting the survey area were outlined with their importance level and dip direction. Seismic data confirm these results and testify the efficiency of this method, particularly in studying structure of plains. The structural map established is a very useful document in the planning of natural resources investigations (i.e. water, mines) to be undertaken in the area of study. To cite this article: D. Khattach et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).

Various techniques (horizontal and vertical derivatives, upward continuation, Euler deconvolution) have been applied to the gravity data from the Triffa's plain and the north flank of the Beni-Snassen massif to delineate various major geological structures such as faults and basins. These results allow the production of a structural map showing the fault systems for the survey area. This map forms the basis for planning future hydrogeological research in this region. To cite this article: D. Khattach et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).

Health education school programs have a planned activity structure that focus on developing awareness on the need of keeping an adequate integral health, through the teaching and learning processes within an appropriate methodological context that promotes students full development. It is expected that school health teachers are effective leaders;…

Despite its small quantity, the importance of upper tropospheric water vapor is its ability to trap the longwave radiation emitted from the Earth's surface, namely the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is defined quantitatively as the difference between the longwave flux emitted by the Earth's surface and the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) flux emitted from the top of the atmosphere (TOA) (Raval and Ramanathan 1989).

This collection of 83 clip sheets, or classroom handouts, was created to help U.S. migrants learn more about health, careers, and general "opportunities" including education programs. They are written in both English and Spanish and are presented in an easily understandable format. Health clip-sheet topics include the following: Abuse; AIDS;…

This English/Spanish informational kit contains resource materials that school administrators and parents can use to take full advantage of the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 and help them eliminate hazardous pesticide use around their schools. The kit looks at how to organize community interest in least-toxic Integrated Pest Management policy, and…

Background Latino immigrants are less likely to be involved in addressing health-related issues affecting their own community. Community health workers have played a significant role in addressing the health of underserved communities in several countries. Objective The objective of this article is to describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a community-based training program that empowers promotores to identify the health needs of recent Latino immigrants. Promotores were able to develop interventions based on the needs of recent Latino immigrants. Methods Latino community members participated in a 30-hour training program. Training was provided in 15 two-hour sessions over 3 months. Training included field work accompanied by skills development in leadership, organization, interpersonal communication, and survey implementation. Upon completion of the training, promotores conducted household surveys designed to identify community health needs. The evaluation employed quantitative measures to track promotores’ canvassing activities and assessment of health behaviors. Results Out of the 22 promotores enrolled in the training program, 15 (68.18%) completed the training program. Within 3 months, promotores administered 105 household surveys and identified poor access to health care, lack of insurance (78.6%), low daily consumption of fruits (73%) and vegetables (37.5%) and frequent exposure to tobacco smoke (31.7%). Conclusion Our study demonstrated the feasibility of recruiting and engaging promotores to identify health priorities within the Latino community. This initial step will inform the development of future community-based interventions. PMID:25705141

Purpose/Objectives To describe community-based participatory processes used to develop promotore training on cancer research, and to assess the feasibility of training promotores from rural communities to disseminate cancer research information. Design Prospective, cohort design. Setting Rural communities in the state of Kansas. Sample 34 Spanish-speaking promotores attended an information session; 27 enrolled and 22 completed training. Methods With input from a community advisory board, the authors developed a leadership and cancer curriculum and trained Spanish-speaking promotores to disseminate information on cancer research. Promotores completed pretraining and post-training surveys in Spanish to assess demographic characteristics and changes in knowledge of cancer, cancer treatment and cancer research studies, and intent to participate in cancer research. Main Research Variables Cancer knowledge, awareness of cancer clinical trials, interest in participating in cancer clinical research studies. Findings Compared to pretraining, after training, promotores were more likely to correctly define cancer, identify biopsies, describe cancer stages, and report ever having heard of cancer research studies. Conclusions Completion rates of the training and willingness to participate in cancer research were high, supporting the feasibility of training promotores to deliver community-based education to promote cancer research participation. Implications for Nursing Nursing professionals and researchers can collaborate with promotores to disseminate cancer education and research among underserved rural Latino communities in Kansas and elsewhere. Members of these communities appear willing and interested in improving their knowledge of cancer and cancer clinical trials. PMID:25542317

A 2-year project taught reading methods and provided culturally appropriate books for Spanish-speaking and English-speaking families (year 1, 1,013 families; year 2, 1,408 families). Data from home visits and follow-up surveys (n=207) revealed that positive parent/child interaction and time spent reading to children increased and the number of…

Background: Age-adjusted cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates for Hispanics are lower than for non-Hispanics. However, CVD is the leading cause of death among Hispanics, and there is an increasing heart health problem among this population. One strategy for preventing CVD is the use of community health workers (CHWs). A CHW is a member of…

Examines the National Pediatric Service and the research program of the Maternity-Infant-Hospital-School in Honduras. Reports that health conditions of young children (birth to six years) in Honduras are appalling and that available funds for health services are inadequate, reflecting the country's economic and social crisis. (NH)

In the United States, there is an alarming trend toward obesity and inactivity among children. Minorities and economically disadvantaged children are at an even higher risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention one in two Latino children will become diabetic. As a result, there is a dire need for tailored intervention…

This booklet contains nine sections describing ways in which noise may endanger health and well-being. Sections are included on: (1) hearing loss; (2) heart disease; (3) other reactions by the body; (4) effects on the unborn; (5) special effects on children; (6) intrusion at home and work; (7) mental and social well-being; and (8) danger to life…

Some studies suggest that, upon admission, medicine programs students display eagerness for community service, aspirations to be useful, and to contribute to society's well-being. Those same studies reflect that qualities of idealism, moral nature, and internal motivation, suffer a subsequent diminishing. The researchers inferred that the main reason for this process of change in the mood and disposition of these future physicians lies in the modeling they receive from medical professionals throughout clinical learning activities, by way of behavior and relationships exhibited during daily interaction with peers, patients and the students themselves. This phenomenological study used a cross-sectional sample to explore the experiences of future health workers as they went through didactic and clinical phases of their training curriculum. The study employed semi-structured interviews and reflective journals to explore those experiences and to discover the meanings ascribed by the participants. The analysis revealed that the students defined "professionalism" in terms of scientific knowledge, commitment, respect for human dignity, comradeship, courtesy, empathy, integrity, altruism, motivation. They also described their feelings as they went through the didactic and clinical experiences, and recognized as very important the extracurricular activities of community service, describing them as useful opportunities which contributed to understand their work in terms of a mission dedicated to the achievement of the social benefit. From their individual perspectives, the clinical environment could, in general, be described as congruent with those characteristics of professionalism. During the study we had the opportunity to share, in a little deeper way, the environment... the world... of this small group of young students as we went on trying to decipher their feelings and thoughts. At the end, we realized the richness of their sensibilities, we perceived the intensity of their moral and ethical convictions, we were able to understand their concerns, worries, struggles and efforts. This life event had profound and significant repercussions in our personal and professional life. As a result, and from now on, we will no longer look at our young scholars and apprentices without imagining a noble spirit, with goals which at times could seem unattainable... without completely visualizing or conceiving real hope for a better country.

Designed to acquaint social workers and other professionals in the mental health field with the basic terms necessary for professional discussions, paper presentations, and international correspondence, the English/Spanish-Spanish/English glossary lists 130 selected mental health terms. The glossary includes two sections: English to Spanish and…

This textbook is part of a Mexican series of instructional materials designed for Spanish speaking adults who are in the process of becoming literate or have recently become literate in their native language. This textbook is designed to strengthen reading and writing skills while teaching basic principles and techniques to improve family health.…

eHealth is characterized by technology-enabled processes, systems, and applications that expedite accurate, real-time health information, feedback, and skill development to advance patient-centered care. When designed and applied in a culturally competent manner, eHealth tools can be particularly beneficial for traditionally marginalized ethnic minority groups, such as Latinos, a group that has been identified as being at the forefront of emerging technology use in the United States. In this analytic overview, we describe current eHealth research that has been conducted with Latino patient populations. In addition, we highlight cultural and linguistic factors that should be considered during the design and implementation of eHealth interventions with this population. With increasing disparities in preventive care information, behaviors, and services, as well as health care access in general, culturally competent eHealth tools hold great promise to help narrow this gap and empower communities. PMID:25320901

eHealth is characterized by technology-enabled processes, systems, and applications that expedite accurate, real-time health information, feedback, and skill development to advance patient-centered care. When designed and applied in a culturally competent manner, eHealth tools can be particularly beneficial for traditionally marginalized ethnic minority groups, such as Latinos, a group that has been identified as being at the forefront of emerging technology use in the United States. In this analytic overview, we describe current eHealth research that has been conducted with Latino patient populations. In addition, we highlight cultural and linguistic factors that should be considered during the design and implementation of eHealth interventions with this population. With increasing disparities in preventive care information, behaviors, and services, as well as health care access in general, culturally competent eHealth tools hold great promise to help narrow this gap and empower communities. PMID:25320901

Pediatric obesity in the US disproportionately impacts minority populations who face socioeconomic and cultural barriers to weight management programs. The specific aim of this pilot study was to test the effectiveness of diet behavior modification or diet behavior modification plus structured aerob...

The author suggests a framework for planning and evaluating continuing education, giving attention to the learner, his objectives, and the learning process; these components are discussed in determining the special characteristics of the continuing education of professional health workers, and a model program is presented. The article is in…

Health literacy in patients attending a University Hospital. Low level of health literacy is associated with poor communication between patients and clinicians and with increased hospitalization rates, less frequent screening for cancer, poor control of diabetes, and disproportionately high rates of disease and mortality. Despite the importance of health literacy in medicine, there is no information about its prevalence in Latin America. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of inadequate health literacy in a random sample of patients, at a University Hospital where a descriptive study was performed during 2007. Health literacy was assessed through the Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish-speaking Adults. Participants were randomly selected from the ambulatory clinic and from the medical inpatient ward during 2007.There were a total of 2345 patients potentially eligible during the time of the study, 234 were approached after random selection and 229 patients were interviewed (98% response); 54.6% of respondents were women and 62% were recruited from the ambulatory clinic. The respondents had a median age of 56 years. The prevalence of inadequate health literacy was 30.1% (69 patients). Patients with ≤ 7 years of formal education had more risk of having inadequate health literacy compared with those with > 12 years of education OR = 45.1 (IC 9.6-211.6). We found a high prevalence of inadequate health literacy, being strongly associated with the level of formal education. It is important that health care providers know the implications of health literacy and its consequences. PMID:20053602

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Bureau of Community Services and Migrant Education.

To promote uniformity and continuity, standards have been established for planning, implementing, and evaluating student health programs provided by grade K-12 migrant education programs throughout California. In this Spanish language edition, state-mandated health requirements, the rationale for supplemental services, methods of providing…

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in Hispanic women has been substantiated across studies. While many studies have focused on the impact of these risk factors, few qualitative studies have addressed cultural and contextual meanings of cardiovascular health promotion in this population. This research explored cultural resources for cardiovascular health promotion among older Hispanic women. A qualitative descriptive methodological design using focus groups with 7 Hispanic women was used. Culture provided an overarching perspective, guiding identification and choice of resources and supports in order to promote cardiovascular health. Themes included Living Tradition, Caring for Family, Connecting with Friends, Having Faith, and Moving as Life. Data provide an initial step toward generating a more complete understanding of perceived cultural resources for cardiovascular health in older Hispanic women. Researchers and clinicians are increasingly recognizing that individuals, families and communities uniquely define cultural and contextual meaning of cardiovascular health promotion. PMID:23024613

The North Banda Sea Basin is located in Eastern Indonesia, close to the triple junction between the Eurasian, Pacific and Indo-Australian plates, and opened during Late Miocene time in a back arc setting. We use the magnetic and bathymetric data to depict this opening and the geodynamical evolution of the basin. We also take into account radiochronological datations available from some dredges of its basement. Sea floor spreading occurred from 12.5 to 7.15 Ma directed by three large NW-SE transform faults, namely the West Buru, Tampomas and Hamilton fracture zones. Finally, a schematic model of the North and South Banda basins evolution is presented.

In the Ribeiro da Serra mine, subconcordant and locally discordant veins composed mainly of quartz and albite, hosted by the bedded sequence of the schist-greywacke complex, are interpreted as sills of albitized felsic igneous rocks. They were emplaced after major Hercynian folding, in the same faulted structure as a mineralized quartz vein, and probably only a short time before the latter. The existence of this magmatic activity supports the hypothesis of an indirect relationship between the Sb-Au veins and a hidden granitic intrusion in the Dúrico-Beirão district.

The Altun Shan is a tectonic block to the south of the Tarim basin, North Tibet, bounded to the south by the Altyn Tagh fault. U/Pb crystallisation ages on zircons are 441 ± 9 Ma. 40Ar/ 39Ar analysis on muscovite yields an age of 383 ± 7 Ma. Both indicate a cooling rate of 7.3 ± 0.6 °C·Ma -1 from 441 to 383 Ma. Further cooling, probably due to exhumation, began at this time and continued at a rate of 0.8 ± 0.3 °C·Ma -1 From three apatite fission-track analyses, cooling rate increased to 8 ± 2 °C·Ma -1 at 10 Ma.

Near Bakouma (southwest Central African Republic), the ante Pan African carbonated formations are deeply karstified and overlaid by uranium and phosphorus bearing sediments, probably Eocene in age. The sedimentological study, of drilling cores allows the proposal of a carbonated ramp model for the lithological pile. This ramp was backed on to a large argilaceous continental rise with feldspathic sandy deposits. In the marine domain, pelitic sediments of the coastal plain progressively change into dolomites deposited on a dissipative beach limited by a discontinuous and partially emerged stromatolic bioherm. In the south, the stromatolic bioherms of Kassa-Limassa are interbedded in lagoonal silicified dolomites bearing evidence of evaporitic processes. Native copper is locally present in shore deposits. The progradation of the facies is southwards. This model is compared to the beach of the carbonated ramp evidenced for the Schisto-calcaire Group in Congo. The carbonated ramps of Central Africa, established before the Pan-African orogeny, can be linked to the same tectono-eustatic regressive period as the Schisto-calcaire ramp (West-Congolian Supergroup). By comparaison with the results obtained in south Congo, the age of the carbonated ramp in the north of Central Africa could be near the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) felt it was timely to create an academic forum in which university researchers have the opportunity to engage with their peers and relevant stakeholders and document the impacts of their North-South research collaboration in a peer-reviewed publication. The Association achieved this by…

In northwestern Tunisia, the new study of the Gueurn Halfaya mining area allows us to define the relationships of the Triassic masses with the surrounding Cretaceous and Miocene formations, and to specify the genesis of several mineralizations (Fe, Sr, Pb-Zn), from an Aptian-Albian tilted block extensional setting, later tectonically inverted during the Tertiary. During the Lower-Middle Cretaceous, a sedimentary slope with boulders, determined by normal faulting, receives a submarine 'salt glacier', like in the Gulf of Mexico. This is then overlain by two successive sedimentary covers (Middle-Upper Albian and Vraconian-Turonian); the depocentres of the second cover directly overlie the saliferous Triassic rocks after the rafting of the first cover. This organisation is similar to the Kuanza basin setting in Angola. The Lower-Middle Cretaceous tectono-sedimentary evolution proposed here, very different to the 'classical' forceful diapiric interpretation, is continuously drived from the extensional tectonics (sedimentation and mineralizations, before, during and after the halokinesis), and afterwards tectonically inverted by the two Tertiary contractional events.

The succession of drought years and excessive abstraction in the plain of Triffa caused deterioration in water quality and endangers future exploitation of groundwater resources. A combination of geophysical surveys, including electrical resistivity and hydrochemical data has been used to identify the geographical extension of salinization and identify its origin. Electrical conductivity measurements are used to show the history of salinization in space and time. In this paper, a first conceptual model of the brackish springs has been established. To cite this article: M. Boughriba et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).

Sulfur isotope data measured on samples of galena from the main Mississippi Valley-type prospects of the eastern Beni Snassen belt preclude an igneous source for sulfur, pointing instead to a sedimentary source. Negative δ 34S values are interpreted to being derived from bacteriogenic reduction of Jurassic seawater sulphate. Positive δ 34S values are considered to be hydrothermal sulfide transported with metal-bearing fluid. Mixing of these two fluids resulted in the deposition of the Pb ore.

Our previous study demonstrated that 25-hydroxy-19-nor-vitamin D(3) [25(OH)-19-nor-D(3)] inhibited the proliferation of immortalized noncancerous PZ-HPV-7 prostate cells similar to 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1 alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3)], suggesting that 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) might be converted to 1 alpha,25-dihydroxy-19-nor-vitamin D(3) [1 alpha,25(OH)(2)-19-nor-D(3)] by CYP27B1 before exerting its antiproliferative activity. Using an in vitro cell-free model to study the kinetics of CYP27B1-dependent 1 alpha-hydroxylation of 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) [25(OH)D(3)] and CYP24A1-dependent hydroxylation of 1 alpha,25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) and 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3), we found that k(cat)/K(m) for 1 alpha-hydroxylation of 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) was less than 0.1% of that for 25(OH)D(3), and the k(cat)/K(m) value for 24-hydroxylation was not significantly different between 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)-19-nor-D(3) and 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3). The data suggest a much slower formation and a similar rate of degradation of 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)-19-nor-D(3) compared with 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3). We then analyzed the metabolites of 25(OH)D(3) and 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) in PZ-HPV-7 cells by high-performance liquid chromatography. We found that a peak that comigrated with 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3) was detected in cells incubated with 25(OH)D(3), whereas no 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)-19-nor-D(3) was detected in cells incubated with 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3). Thus, the present results do not support our previous hypothesis that 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) is converted to 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)-19-nor-D(3) by CYP27B1 in prostate cells to inhibit cell proliferation. We hypothesize that 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) by itself may have a novel mechanism to activate vitamin D receptor or it is metabolized in prostate cells to an unknown metabolite with antiproliferative activity without 1 alpha-hydroxylation. Thus, the results suggest that 25(OH)-19-nor-D(3) has potential as an attractive agent for prostate cancer therapy. PMID:17553915

The use of culturally sensitive intervention could improve mental health care for the eating disorder (ED) treatment in the Latino population. The aim of this report is to describe the rationale, design, and methods of the ongoing study entitled "Engaging Latino families in eating disorders treatment." The primary aim of the study is to compare (a) the combined effect of individual cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa (CBT-BN) that has been previously adapted for the Latino population plus Family Enhanced (FE) modules, with (b) the standard adapted individual CBT-BN in a proof-of-principle study with 40 Latina adults with eating disorders and one relative or significant other per patient. We hypothesize that 1) the feasibility, acceptability, and adherence of participants in CBT-BN+FE will be superior to individual CBT-BN only; 2) relatives in CBT-BN+FE will report greater treatment satisfaction, greater reduction in family conflict, and greater decreases in caregiver burden than relatives in the individual CBT-BN only condition; and 3) patients who participate in CBT-BN+FE will show trends towards greater decreases in ED symptoms compared with patients in CBT-BN only; although power will be limited to detect this difference. However, we predict that they will show greater retention in treatment, greater treatment satisfaction, and greater decreases in family conflict than patients in CBT-BN only. The completion of this investigation will yield important information regarding the acceptability and feasibility of a culturally sensitive evidence-based treatment model for Latinos with eating disorders. PMID:23376815

The use of culturally sensitive intervention could improve mental health care for the eating disorders treatment in the Latino population. The aim of this report is to describe the rationale, design, and methods of the ongoing study entitled “Engaging Latino families in eating disorders treatment.” The primary aim of the study is to compare (a) the combined effect of individual cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa (CBT-BN) that has been previously adapted for the Latino population plus Family Enhanced (FE) modules, with (b) the standard adapted individual CBT-BN in a proof-of-principle study with 40 Latina adults with eating disorders and one relative or significant other per patient. We hypothesize that 1) the feasibility, acceptability, and adherence of participants in CBT-BN+ FE will be superior to individual CBT-BN only; 2) relatives in CBT-BN+ FE will report greater treatment satisfaction, greater reduction in family conflict, and greater decreases in caregiver burden than relatives in the individual CBT-BN only condition; and 3) patients who participate in CBT-BN+ FE will show trends towards greater decreases in ED symptoms compared with patients in CBT-BN only; although power will be limited to detect this difference. However, we predict that they will show greater retention in treatment, greater treatment satisfaction, and greater decreases in family conflict than patients in CBT-BN only. The completion of this investigation will yield important information regarding the acceptability and feasibility of a culturally sensitive evidence-based treatment model for Latinos with eating disorders. (Word Count=240) PMID:23376815

The availability of culturally appropriate written health information is essential for promoting health in diverse populations. Lack of English fluency has been shown to negatively impact health outcomes for Latinos in the United States. The authors conducted a needs assessment at a clinic serving Latino immigrants, focusing on patients' health and previous experiences with written health information. Based on these results and a literature review, we developed 10 Spanish language brochures to better serve the target population. This article outlines the process of developing and implementing this intervention, which can serve as a model for similar projects targeting diverse populations. PMID:22053763

Postsecondary students with children often need an array of supports to succeed in their studies, which can require significant coordination among new and existing services (Conway, Blair, and Helmer 2012; Henrici n.d.; Miller, Gault, and Thorman 2011). Such supports might include financial aid, academic and career counseling, job placement…

Background Exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides is an occupational hazard for farmworkers and affects their children through the take-home pathway. Objectives We examined the effectiveness of a randomized community intervention to reduce pesticide exposure among farmworkers and their children. Methods We conducted a baseline survey of a cross-sectional sample of farmworkers (year 1) in 24 participating communities. Communities were randomized to intervention or control. After 2 years of intervention, a new cross-sectional survey of farmworkers was conducted (year 4). Farmworkers with a child 2–6 years of age were asked to participate in a substudy in which urine was collected from the farmworker and child, and dust was collected from the home and the vehicle driven to work. Results The median concentration of urinary metabolites was higher in year 4 than in year 1 for dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP) and dimethyldithiophosphate in adults and for DMTP for children. There were significant increases within both the intervention and control communities between year 1 and year 4 (p < 0.005); however, the differences were not significant between study communities after adjusting for year (p = 0.21). The dust residue data showed azinphos-methyl having the highest percentage of detects in vehicles (86% and 84% in years 1 and 4, respectively) and in house dust (85% and 83% in years 1 and 4, respectively). There were no significant differences between intervention and control communities after adjusting for year (p = 0.49). Conclusions We found no significant decreases in urinary pesticide metabolite concentrations or in pesticide residue concentrations in house and vehicle dust from intervention community households compared with control community households after adjusting for baseline. These negative findings may have implications for future community-wide interventions. PMID:18470300

The Environmental Health Workgroup homepage represents a cross-divisional initiative, serving the environmental and human health interests of Mexico as well as those of the U.S. Contents describe the workgroups's mission, objectives, importance, history, projects, status, new dir...

We developed and evaluated a lay health worker curriculum intended to educate Hispanic farmworker women on cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV), and the HPV vaccine. We pilot tested the curriculum in 2010 with 7 volunteer promotoras for readability, attractiveness, content, comprehension, cultural appropriateness, persuasion, structure and organization of lessons, balance between didactic and participatory activities, and ease of diffusion to community members. Peer-led cervical cancer prevention education is a practical option for low-income, Hispanic farmworker women in newer immigrant-receiving areas of the United States with fewer Spanish-speaking health professionals. PMID:22021295

This manual is designed to help the Latino community in its work of incorporating young people into disease prevention efforts and health education. It provides basic information on 12 health themes along with suggestions and resource materials for the instructor. The young people trained through this manual may work in a number of education and…

By means of new datings and grade-datings founded on planktonic Foraminifera, ponctually identified in spite of a Campanian epimetamorphism, the extention of the Coniacian sub-basin of Lordat (« Zone des Écailles Bordières » , Ariège),partly calciturbiditic, is doubled indeed tripled at the expense of formations previously assigned to Paleozoic (particularly the ex-'Paleozoic slice of Lordat'). These last ones are only represented by very large size olistolites redeposited within a thick olistostrome (Lordat castle, Saint-Pierre hermitage), itself included within a monoclinal succession with calcareous intercalations, regarded as a probable equivalent of the 'Fucoïd flysch'. This épimetamorphic series also exists, more to the North, beyond the marbles of the Internal Metamorphic Zone, as it is evidenced by the Upper Cretaceous age assigned to the ex-Paleozoic slice of Carmilles directly overthrust by the North-pyrenean hercynian massif of Saint-Barthelemy. More to the West, the Vicdessos sub-basin is regarded as a lateral extension of the Lordat one ; it consists of a thick monoclinal Coniacian series and not of a large 'synclinorium' subdivided by Urgo-Aptian anticlines which correspond, in reality, to calcareous intercalations within the Upper Cretaceous normal succession. The herein studied terrigenous complex of Lordat-Vicdessos, partly turbiditic, is composed by, at least, two 3rd order tectono-sedimentary sequences, A and B, marking the successive infilling of foreland synsedimentary synclines supplied (olistolites) by the probably submarine erosion of the Northward migrating front of the High Primary Range (induced by successive synsedimentary probably blind overthrusts). This model of foreland sub-basin fits in perfectly with the evolutional sheme of an interplaque bivergent range, in compression during Upper Cretaceous, where followed along a N-S palinspastic section reconstructed during Coniacian, on the two sides of the future High Primary Range, at least two sub-basins linked to the European Plate (Lordat-Vicdessos and Nalzen I) and one sub-basin (San Gervas) linked to the Iberian Plate.

In the western Fore-Balkan (northwest Bulgaria), the characterization of numerous depositional sequences within the Barremian-Albian interval allows us to reconstruct from southeast to northwest the successive palaeogeographies of this part of the north Tethyan margin: two carbonate (Urgonian) platforms flanking a central terrigenous basin during the Barremian; a single centrifugal terrigenous basin (Aptian) marked, along its axis, by an olistostrome and siliciclastic turbidites; a single Albian basin characterized by the stacking of glauconite-rich condensation sections and anoxic black marls.

During Eocene to Early Quaternary period, three compressive tectonic phases are recognized in Northeast Tunisia: a NW-SE to north-south phase during the Late Eocene, a N120-to-N140 phase in the Late Miocene, and a NW-SE to north-south phase in the Plio-Early Quaternary. The first Eocene phase has built NE-SW folds and remobilised east-west-to-N120 and NE-SW faults with a reverse component. The second Miocene phase is characterized by east-west-to-N120 faults with a normal component and NE-SW folds. The third phase occurred during the Plio-Early Quaternary has edified NE-SW folds associated with east-west-to-N120 dextral reverse strike-slip faults and NE-SW faults with a reverse component. To cite this article: H. Mzali, H. Zouari, C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).

Four hundred inoceramids have been collected in the geological site at Tercis, where the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary has been recently defined. At Tercis, a distinct drop of the adult size of inoceramids is observed between levels 111 and 117 and two turnovers of faunal composition were documented between levels 94 and 96 and between levels 111 and 117; the latter interval encompasses the stage boundary. The recognised inoceramid assemblages are very close to those known from North America, allowing better correlation than before between the two domains in the interval 77-70 Ma. The presence of these faunas perfectly located in the section leads to consider the Tercis section as the best known reference for this fossil group, the surprisingly good correlative potential of which has still to be considered in many areas.

In the Saoura, the brachiopod shell beds, so-called niveau coralligène, correspond to a major shell deposit dated to the Late Emsian. Brachiopods and crinoids dominate the benthic assemblage that contains also corals, bryozoans, trilobites, goniatites, and orthocones. This major level has a large geographic distribution and it is characterized by a wide brachiopod diversity due to time-averaging, taphonomic feedback and alternate bottom conditions changing from soft to shelly and firm. This kind of brachiopod association is linked to a transgressive onlap system. At regional extent, we can correlate this major shell bed to similar shell deposits from the Ahnet-Mouydir, Tindouf, and Zemmour areas. It indicates an important transgressive event underlined by change in the sedimentation from detritic deposits to carbonate sediments. To cite this article: A. Ouali Mehadji et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).

The study of two of the intermontane molassic basins of the 'Série pourprée de l'Ahnet' shows that they developed independently both in time and space. The characteristics of their thick sedimentary infillings are quite different. The Ouallen basin is filled by essentially fine-grained sediments which were deposited in continental then marine or lacustrine environments; these sediments thicen from east to west. The In Semmen basin is characterised by coarser sediments which were deposited from south to north, in alluvial fan, fluvial, deltaic and slope environments. This basin is also characterised by an episode of carbonate sedimentation leading to the formation of a remarkable thin layer of carbonate, covering the entire sedimentary area, and perhaps related to a volcanic rhyolitic event. The history of the two basins is also marked by obvious tectonic events simultaneous with the sedimentation and related to the recurrent faulting of major Pan-African faults. These led to the formation of very coarse fanglomerates located near the fault scarps, and are probably responsible for the shape and the evolution of the basins.

French archaeologists have known the Cau Giat site, excavated by Mrs Colani and Mr Pajot, since 1930. Many artefacts and human remains have been found, but human fossil material has long been lost and forgotten. However, the study of rediscovered fossil material highlights some morphological aspects that allow consideration of a human presence resembling the Wadjak in North Vietnam. Recognition of particular characters of the Wadjak type, outside Indonesia, leads to the hypothesis of the existence of migratory ways or diffusion between the Indonesian islands and the Eurasiatic continent.

The Benue trough and the intracontinental basins of Northeast Brazil are located in the African-South American mobile belt deformed during the Pan-African (or Brazilian) orogeny. The chain trends in a N-S to NNE-SSW direction. During the Late Precambrian collision stages in between the cratons of West Africa, Sao Francisco and Congo, dominant NE-SW ductile shear zones acted as limits of mobile crustal blocks on both sides of the Gulf of Guinea. This gondwanian assemblage was reworked during the installation of the West and Central African rift system under the effects of a generalized distension which led to the opening of the Equatorial domain of the South Atlantic. Phanerozoic basins became oriented according to the inherited gondwanian mega-discontinuities along which brittle tectonics was most prominent. After an initial pre-rift deformation from Late Jurassic to Eo-Cretaceous, three principal tectono-sedimentary phases in the Benue Trough and the Northeast Brazilian basins have been shown— an eo-rift phase (Neocomian to Early Barremian) of extensional brittle tectonics and basin initiation— a syn-rift I phase (Barremian to Middle Albian) of crustal stretching, local block tilting and basin installation; associated synchronous basaltic magmatism with transitional affinities is characteristic of intracontinental distensive zones. This is the period of the Medio-African and NE-Brazilian Cretaceous Great Lakes; a syn-rift II phase (Late Albian-Early Cenomanian) of a probable crustal surextension related to regional tilting. The above evolutionary stages apply to the Equatorial domain of the South Atlantic (NE Brazil, Cameroon, Nigeria up to the Ivory Coast) deformed during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. This domain represented the final gondwanian link between the Central and South Atlantic. The new evidences of well dated polyphased intra-plate deformations are contrary to the earlier views of rigid plates in the context of continental reconstructions to obtain the pre-drift fit, different from the pre-rift one. Reconsidering the scenario of the South Atlantic opening through the geological record of its continental margins, it can be noted that the axial rift propagates from the South towards the North within successive domains (Austral, Tropical and Equatorial). The continental rifting-drifting processes were thus reproduced in the adjoining domain every 20 Ma. At the limit, transfer fault zones oriented NE-SW (with Africa in its present position) accomodate a differential deformation between each domain. In the Benue Trough, a strike-slip sinistral movement with a displacement of several tens of kilometres has been estimated along a similar NE-SW direction. The trough represents the abandoned arm of a RRF triple junction which acted at the time of the refraction of the Southern South Atlantic opening into the E-W domain of the Gulf of Guinea. The present features of the African and South American continents appeared as from the uppermost Albian to Lower Cenomanian times of final crustal disruption followed by a progressive separation of the land masses along the strike-slip equatorial margins.

Delegations from Canada, Finland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States agreed to the establishment of a network for cooperation among individuals engaged in problems peculiar to the circumpolar North. The Northern Science Network, established within the Unesco Man and the Biosphere Program, consists of three themes: studies on the…

The Irish language movement in Northern Ireland was formed in the 1970s. Pragmatic and symbolic implications of this minority language revival considerably evolved, reflecting and depending on important political changes happening in this European province. This article focuses on the representation of Irish language and the most recent strategy…

The phreatic aquifer of Metline-Ras Jebel-Raf Raf (prefecture of Bizerte, northeastern coast of Tunisia), which occupies an area of 35 km 2, has a great economical importance, because it is used for irrigation and domestic consumption. The area of the aquifer is essentially occupied by agricultural zones, characterised by increasing use of chemical fertilizers. These chemical fertilizers threaten the quality of the groundwaters. The study of the vulnerability to pollution of this aquifer was made by applying two intrinsic vulnerability methods: the generic DRASTIC and the SINTACS methods, and a specific method of vulnerability to nitrate pollution: the SI method. For the application of those methods, GIS techniques were used. The validity of the different methods to agricultural pollution by nitrates was verified by comparing the distribution of these species in the groundwater with the distribution of the different vulnerability classes. The comparison demonstrated that the SI method is the most valid method in the studied system.

The Zenaga Inlier shows a comprehensive record of the Eburnian and Pan-African Orogenies. The Eburnian is characterised by high-temperature regional metamorphism and complex magmatism. The early (Azguemerzi) granodiorite has an isotopic mantle signature and was emplaced diapirically during the Eburnian Orogeny causing local thermal metamorphism. The foliation observed in this granitoid is a result of the interference between its primary syn-emplacement foliation and the regional foliation under amphibolite-facies conditions. The northern part of Zenaga has been intruded by the leucocratic granites of Tazenakht. These granites are cut by mylonites and phyllonites, corresponding to the Pan-African shear zones and accompanied with sub-greenschist-facies metamorphism during the Pan-African Orogeny. The deformation was the result of a regional sinistral transpressive event. This study in the northern part of the West African Craton shows the superposition of the Pan-African on the Eburnian Orogeny and the presence of a major fault in the Anti-Atlas.

Puerto Rico State Dept. of Education, Hato Rey. Area for Vocational and Technical Education.

This handbook is intended for a 2-year secondary course for home health aides. Introductory information includes a description of the occupation, prerequisites, general objectives, and a chart depicting the number of hours and weeks devoted to each unit. The course outline covers 12 units: (1) the occupation of home health aide; (2) principles of…

Puerto Rico State Dept. of Education, Hato Rey. Area for Vocational and Technical Education.

This laboratory manual on microbiology begins with an introduction relating the study of microorganisms to health occupations education and stressing the importance of teaching critical thinking. The introduction is followed by general instructions for the use of the manual and an illustration of hand washing procedures. The 13 laboratory…

This Spanish language curriculum guide is divided into three parts: a teacher's guide consisting of eight units--"An Adequate Diet,""Brushing Your Teeth,""A Visit to the Dentist,""Is It Necessary to Sleep?", "Who Can Do Better?", "A Visit to the Doctor,""Resting,""Bathing"--with material and procedural suggestions and a variety of lessons in each…

Timely and accurate measurement of population protection against measles is critical for decision-making and prevention of outbreaks. However, little is known about how survey-based estimates of immunization (crude coverage) compare to the seroprevalence of antibodies (effective coverage), particularly in low-resource settings. In poor areas of Mexico and Nicaragua, we used household surveys to gather information on measles immunization from child health cards and caregiver recall. We also collected dried blood spots (DBS) from children aged 12 to 23 months to compare crude and effective coverage of measles immunization. We used survey-weighted logistic regression to identify individual, maternal, household, community, and health facility characteristics that predict gaps between crude coverage and effective coverage. We found that crude coverage was significantly higher than effective coverage (83% versus 68% in Mexico; 85% versus 50% in Nicaragua). A large proportion of children (19% in Mexico; 43% in Nicaragua) had health card documentation of measles immunization but lacked antibodies. These discrepancies varied from 0% to 100% across municipalities in each country. In multivariate analyses, card-positive children in Mexico were more likely to lack antibodies if they resided in urban areas or the jurisdiction of De Los Llanos. In contrast, card-positive children in Nicaragua were more likely to lack antibodies if they resided in rural areas or the North Atlantic region, had low weight-for-age, or attended health facilities with a greater number of refrigerators. Findings highlight that reliance on child health cards to measure population protection against measles is unwise. We call for the evaluation of immunization programs using serological methods, especially in poor areas where the cold chain is likely to be compromised. Identification of within-country variation in effective coverage of measles immunization will allow researchers and public health professionals to address challenges in current immunization programs. PMID:26136239

Introduction Most evidence-based interventions to improve fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption target individual behaviors and family systems; however, these changes are difficult to sustain without environmental support. This paper describes an innovative social and structural food store-based intervention to increase availability and accessibility of FVs in tiendas (small-to medium-sized Latino food stores) and purchasing and consumption of FVs among tienda customers. Methods Using a cluster randomized controlled trial with 16 tiendas pair-matched and randomized to an intervention or wait-list control condition, this study will evaluate a 2-month intervention directed at tiendas, managers, and employees followed by a 4-month customer-directed food marketing campaign. The intervention involves social (e.g., employee trainings) and structural (e.g., infrastructure) environmental changes. Three hundred sixty-nine customers (approximately 23 per tienda) serve on an evaluation cohort and complete assessments (interviews and measurements of weight) at 3 time points: baseline, 6-months post-baseline, and 12-months post-baseline. The primary study outcome is customer-reported daily consumption of FVs. Manager interviews and monthly tienda audits and collection of sales data will provide evidence of tienda-level intervention effects, our secondary outcomes. Process evaluation methods assess dose delivered, dose received, and fidelity. Results Recruitment of tiendas, managers, employees, and customers is complete. Demographic data shows that 30% of the customers are males, thus providing a unique opportunity to examine the effects of a tienda-based intervention on Latino men. Conclusions Determining whether a tienda-based intervention can improve customers’ FV purchasing and consumption will provide key evidence for how to create healthier consumer food environments. PMID:25924592

The conference focused on the role of the Mexican American's cultural language, tradition, life style, health practices, and media utilization in the design of effective health education and information programs. Representing various local, state, and national health, education, and media organizations, the 108 participants attended sessions on…

Written in Spanish, the guide comprises the first grade unit of a career education curriculum developed for migrant students. The guide covers 12 health and personal service occupations--blacksmith, television repairer, hairdresser/barber, day care worker, waitress, gas station attendant, family doctor, ambulance driver/attendant, dietician,…

This bilingual (English-Spanish) guide is intended to assist parents and caregivers in seeking help for children with mental health problems. As part of the system of care, parents and caregivers need to work together to help the child in need. Caregivers and counselors can help families define their strengths, determine the things they want to…

Increasing recognition of the role of social conditions in health has led to calls for methods that can be used to change social conditions. Popular education has demonstrated great promise as a methodology that can be used to address the underlying social and structural determinants of health. To date, most studies of popular education have used…

Introduction: The purpose of the present research is aimed at studying the relationship between emotional intelligence as an ability and emotional intelligence as a trait and mental health of a sample of school counsellors. Method: The sample has been made up of 203 school counsellors. The instruments used have been: Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional…

Timely and accurate measurement of population protection against measles is critical for decision-making and prevention of outbreaks. However, little is known about how survey-based estimates of immunization (crude coverage) compare to the seroprevalence of antibodies (effective coverage), particularly in low-resource settings. In poor areas of Mexico and Nicaragua, we used household surveys to gather information on measles immunization from child health cards and caregiver recall. We also collected dried blood spots (DBS) from children aged 12 to 23 months to compare crude and effective coverage of measles immunization. We used survey-weighted logistic regression to identify individual, maternal, household, community, and health facility characteristics that predict gaps between crude coverage and effective coverage. We found that crude coverage was significantly higher than effective coverage (83% versus 68% in Mexico; 85% versus 50% in Nicaragua). A large proportion of children (19% in Mexico; 43% in Nicaragua) had health card documentation of measles immunization but lacked antibodies. These discrepancies varied from 0% to 100% across municipalities in each country. In multivariate analyses, card-positive children in Mexico were more likely to lack antibodies if they resided in urban areas or the jurisdiction of De Los Llanos. In contrast, card-positive children in Nicaragua were more likely to lack antibodies if they resided in rural areas or the North Atlantic region, had low weight-for-age, or attended health facilities with a greater number of refrigerators. Findings highlight that reliance on child health cards to measure population protection against measles is unwise. We call for the evaluation of immunization programs using serological methods, especially in poor areas where the cold chain is likely to be compromised. Identification of within-country variation in effective coverage of measles immunization will allow researchers and public health professionals to address challenges in current immunization programs. PMID:26136239

Background Latinos are now the largest (and fastest growing) ethnic minority group in the United States. Latinas report high rates of physical inactivity and suffer disproportionately from obesity, diabetes, and other conditions that are associated with sedentary lifestyles. Effective physical activity interventions are urgently needed to address these health disparities. Method/Design An ongoing randomized controlled trial will test the efficacy of a home-based, individually tailored physical activity print intervention for Latinas (1R01NR011295). This program was culturally and linguistically adapted for the target population through extensive formative research (6 focus groups, 25 cognitive interviews, iterative translation process). This participant feedback was used to inform intervention development. Then, 268 sedentary Latinas were randomly assigned to receive either the Tailored Intervention or the Wellness Contact Control arm. The intervention, based on Social Cognitive Theory and the Transtheoretical Model, consists of six months of regular mailings of motivation-matched physical activity manuals and tip sheets and individually tailored feedback reports generated by a computer expert system, followed by a tapered dose of mailings during the second six months (maintenance phase). The main outcome is change in minutes/week of physical activity at six months and one year as measured by the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall (7-Day PAR). To validate these findings, accelerometer data will be collected at the same time points. Discussion High reach, low cost, culturally relevant interventions to encourage physical activity among Latinas could help reduce health disparities and thus have a substantial positive impact on public health. PMID:22789455

This article constitutes an analysis of the decentralization of the Ministry of Health of Mexico though the project to develop its jurisdictions to strengthen Local Health System (SILOS) implemented between 1989 and 1994. The relationship between decentralization and jurisdictional socioeconomic, demographic and resource availability differences was studied using qualitative and quantitative methods. The impact of jurisdictional strengthening on deconcentration and their combined effect on primary health care (PHC) and coverage were measured. The strengthening of technical capacity within the jurisdictions increased moderately but did not show a significant association with primary health care efficiency. However, when jurisdictions attain more autonomy, a significant association between strengthening and PHC efficiency appears. Deconcentration is a key factor to guarantee the strengthening of technical capacity and to assure that greater efficiency impacts on poverty reduction: however, deconcentration was limited due to the fact that the general strategies of the project were not differentiated according to the inequality across jurisdictions. To decentralize the Ministry of Health effectively, the federation must formulate objectives and strategies according to jurisdictional socioeconomic conditions and service need and capacity. Jurisdictions must be restructured and rescaled to improve their interaction with municipal governments, the health sector and the community. PMID:9303866

These descriptive cross-sectional study explores aspects related to mental health and resilience in 44 youth identified as gays, lesbians and bisexuals (GLB). A survey and a semi structured interviews were conducted. Approximately one in three young people surveyed showed suicidal thoughts. The 18.2% of all young people carried out suicide attempts, which represented about 50% of those who expressed suicidal thoughts. Young people respondents with suicidal thoughts reported a mean score significantly lower on scales of mental health and vitality, but a higher score on the scale of perceived stigma. 75% of GLB youth respondents exhibited high levels of self-esteem and resilience. These findings account for the inherent complexity related to be accepted as gay, lesbian or bisexual, since the person wants to express himself, even with the social costs that entails and implies. PMID:25664146

Objectives The goal of this research was to evaluate nutrition education targeting Latinas, a group at particular risk of obesity and diabetes, which predict to later life cardiovascular disease and dementia. Methods Culturally tailored, theory-based nutrition education was provided to Mexican origin Latinas aged 48 to 84. The randomized design compared participants in workshops incorporating the connection between dietary fat and brain health, participants in workshops focusing only on dietary fat and heart health, a waitlist control group, and a posttest only control group. Results Among those assigned to either intervention, there was statistically significant gain in health literacy, knowledge about dietary fat, and behaviors to reduce dietary fat compared to waitlist control. There was no difference in outcomes between those given the module about diet and brain health and those not provided that module. Discussion A program to encourage dietary fat modification in Latinas proved feasible and modestly effective. PMID:25231884

A healthy weight means you are not too fat or too thin. Your doctor may have said that you should not gain more weight or that you need to lose a few pounds. If you have diabetes and are overweight, you are not alone. The steps you take to manage your weight will help you feel better and may improve your blood sugar or glucose (GLOO-kos) levels.…

A Spanish version of a manual on workshops for training nutrition and health field educators to approach communities more sensitively emphasizes techniques for involving community members in efforts to achieve better health and nutrition. Experiential workshop materials and techniques have been field-tested in several countries, including…

Interpretations of gravity and aeromagnetic anomaly data, supplemented by results from two seismic reflection profiles and five magnetotelluric soundings, were used to study buried structure and lithology of the Libby thrust belt of northwestern Montana. The gravity anomaly data show a marked correlation with major structures. The Purcell anticlinorium and the Sylvanite anticline are very likely cored by stacks of thrust slices of dense crystalline basement rocks that account for the large gravity highs across these two structures. Gravity anomaly data for the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness show a string of four broad highs. The principal magnetic anomaly sources are igneous intrusive rocks, major fault zones, and magnetite-bearing sedimentary rocks of the Ravalli Group. The most important magnetic anomalies in the principal study area are five distinct positive anomalies associated with Cretaceous or younger cupolas and stocks.

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The aim of this thesis consists on validating the Scandinavian outdoors sound propagation model NORD2000 based on ray theory, diffraction theory and Fresnel-zone considerations. NORD2000 can predict sound propagation over non-flat terrain, but it still needed to be validated for configurations that involve combinations of flat ground, hills and barriers. In order to do this a boundary element model has been implemented in MATLAB to serve a reliable reference. It has been named MEC-ACOPLAMIENTO since it solves the Helmholtz integral equation, considering concavities and convexities of the terrain problems separately. Afterwards both problems are coupled by means of a fictitious boundary. The numerical model is checked with analytical solutions, numerical uncoupled cases and experimental scaled measurements. The results obtained with NORD2000 agree with those obtained with MEC-ACOPLAMIENTO.

The Triassic outcrops of the Debadib-Ben Gasseur area, located in the Kef area (northwestern Tunisia) have recently been interpreted as submarine 'salt glaciers' interbedded within the Albian deposits (J.-M. Vila et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. II 318 (1994) 1661-1667). New cartographic, drills and gravimetric data recognised evidence for an Albian diapiric stage for the Triassic rocks. The Triassic rocks as pulling out of the sedimentary cover could spread laterally as small size 'salt glaciers' before they have been deformed during the Tertiary compressional deformations. To cite this article: M. Chikhaoui et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1129-1133.

In the Aspe Valley (western Pyrenees), the Europe/Iberia boundary corresponds to a complex fracturing zone, called the 'Bielle-Accous Wrench-Faulting Corridor', which represents the classical 'North-Pyrenean Fault'. Located between the High Primary Range and the North-Pyrenean Zone, the BAWC shows different south-verging sheets mainly composed of Triassic materials. The Bedous ophite, associated with Muschelkalk and Keuper sediments, is also Triassic in age and involved in the same Pyrenean thrusting structures. So, contrary to a recent interpretation, this magmatic rock cannot be related to a supposed Danian plutonism inducing metamorphic processes in the surrounding Mesozoic formations. To cite this article: J. Canérot et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).

New Visean formations and biozones of foraminifera were defined on the Bouqachmir map. The new biozonation concerns the Moroccan biozone, Cfm1, which is subdivided into two subzones, Cfm1a and Cfm1b. This map exhibited, from north-west to south-east, the Tilouine, Bouqachmir-Tougouroulmès and Fourhal turbiditic basins. The first one, from Tournaisian to Late Visean, was the equivalent of the Sidi Bettache basin, located westwards. The second extended the Tilouine basin eastwards during the Visean. The third was a basin from Visean to Westphalian. They were separated by the Zaer-Oulmes and El Hammam horsts, else emerged or immersed, bordered by faults and with materials feeding chaotic deposits.

Thirty-eight volcanic layers have been found, from the littoral carbonate platform to the basin, interbedded within the Neogene deposits of the Melilla-Nador area. Ten of them, whose stratigraphic location and geographic extension have been established, were petrographically and mineralogically studied. They have been used as markers to establish an overall platform/basin correlation sketch. Together with these correlations and a synthesis of available ages, we show that the sedimentation areas, and thus the oceanic circulations, progressively restricted in this region between 6.5 and 5.77 Ma as a consequence of tectono-magmatic activity of the Gourougou magmatic field.

A stratigraphic study and mapping allow defining the particular features of this area of the southwestern Middle Atlas (Morocco) during the Toarcian and the Aalenian. Numerous spectacular variations in thickness and facies are documented by the discovery of coralline build-ups dated to the Late Toarcian. They occur along the palaeostructures. Development of the structures occurred in several stages: (1) initial differentiation during the Early and Middle Toarcian; (2) homogenisation during the Late Toarcian, after the construction of the reefs. The Aalenian history is similar: differentiation (Early Aalenian)-homogenisation (Middle to Late Aalenian). Two palaeostructural trends are evident: SW-NE and transverse SSW-NNE to south-north. These caused separation of several subbasins, which alternatively deepened and shallowed, probably due to the tilting of several blocks to the southwest. To cite this article: F. El Hammichi et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1003-1010.

Popular education is a mode of teaching and learning which seeks to bring about more equitable social conditions by creating settings in which people can identify and solve their own problems. While the public health literature offers evidence to suggest that popular education is an effective strategy for increasing empowerment and improving…

OBJECTIVE: To review the quality of the coding of the cause of death (COD) statistics and assess the mortality information needs of the City of Cape Town. METHODS: Using an action research approach, a study was set up to investigate the quality of COD information, the accuracy of COD coding and consistency of coding practices in the larger health subdistricts. Mortality information needs and the best way of presenting the statistics to assist health managers were explored. FINDINGS: Useful information was contained in 75% of death certificates, but nearly 60% had only a single cause certified; 55% of forms were coded accurately. Disagreement was mainly because routine coders coded the immediate instead of the underlying COD. An abridged classification of COD, based on causes of public health importance, prevalent causes and selected combinations of diseases was implemented with training on underlying cause. Analysis of the 2001 data identified the leading causes of death and premature mortality and illustrated striking differences in the disease burden and profile between health subdistricts. CONCLUSION: Action research is particularly useful for improving information systems and revealed the need to standardize the coding practice to identify underlying cause. The specificity of the full ICD classification is beyond the level of detail on the death certificates currently available. An abridged classification for coding provides a practical tool appropriate for local level public health surveillance. Attention to the presentation of COD statistics is important to enable the data to inform decision-makers. PMID:16583080

Discussing the challenges associated with estimating and interpreting toxicant exposures and health risks from biomonitoring data. This extended abstract was translated in Spanish and published in Acta Toxicologica Argentina.

This Spanish-language report (with an English summary) describes a course on interagency cooperation held at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center in Haifa, Israel. The course, with 30 Central and South American participants, discusses the necessity of pooling resources and sharing responsibility among institutions in various…

Reports on a case study of the set up and first year operations of the public-private partnership between the University of Manchester (UK) and Nord Anglia that delivered training for the National Professional Qualification for Headship. Reviews the partnership according to four factors and discusses the areas of conflict (time and language). (CMK)

Discusses Dutch in the Northern France, specifically the historical retreat of Dutch from Pas-de-Calais, historical evolution of the language situation in the Department du Nord, reactions to official language policy and language loss, characteristics of Flemish in France, alienation from other Dutch dialects by communicative isolation, linguistic…

This report presents highlights of a seminar which focused on the unique health care needs of adolescents. Comments by the following panelists are summarized: Christine Winquist Nord, research associate at Child Trends Inc.; John Sargent, an adolescent psychiatrist, pediatrician and family therapist at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic; and…

The conducivity process, a methodology for creating healthier workplaces by promoting conducive production, is illustrated through the use of the "conducivity game" developed in the NordNet Project in Sweden, which was an action research project to test a job redesign methodology. The project combined the "conducivity" hypotheses about a…

In late 1986, the Ontario government began a 4-year undertaking to establish a distance education network for northeastern and northwestern residents. The network, Contact North/Contact Nord, uses a full complement of interactive telecommunications systems to make secondary and postsecondary education more accessible regardless of community size…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often perform well below their peers across academic areas, with lower math and reading scores and higher school failure and grade retention rates (Reid, Gonzalez, Nordness, Trout, & Epstein, 2004). However, writing is the most significant academic deficit for these students (Austinner,…

Students with emotional disturbance (ED) have significant academic deficits (Trout, Nordness, Pierce, & Epstein, 2003; Lane, 2004). Even after identification and school intervention, students with ED continue to demonstrate limited academic achievement and high rates of drop out and school failure, with 80-90% scoring below grade level on tests of…

Discusses use of case studies and role play throughout the curriculum at the Ecole de Hautes Etudes Commerciales du Nord, a French graduate school associated with the Catholic University of Lille. Provides a case study that was developed to reconcile conflicting needs in the business English classroom at the graduate level. Students require…

According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), a rare or "orphan" disease affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. There are more than 6,000 rare disorders that, taken together, affect approximately 25 million Americans. "Exceptional Parent" ("EP") recognizes that when a disorder affects a child or adult, it…

Two major vein types are recognized in the Coeur d'Alene district, Idaho and Montana. Early Zn-rich veins fill axial plane shears of WNW-trending folds in competent lithologies of Prichard Fm. and Ravalli Group metasediments. Later, Ag-rich veins occur predominantly in upper Revett Fm. quartzite in east- to northeast-trending fractures. Both vein types were deposited from fluids generated during regional greenschist grade metamorphism. Volatile composition of individual fluid inclusions in quartz and sphalerite from these veins were estimated using microthermometry and laser Raman spectroscopy. A high-sensitivity quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to obtain quantitative analyses of fluid extracted from whole crystals. Fluid inclusions from both vein types generally contain less than 10 mole % total gases and 5-10 eq. wt. % NaCl. However, fluid inclusion in Zn-rich veins contain greater concentrations of CH/sub 4/, short chain hydrocarbons, and N/sub 2/ compared to Ag-rich veins in which CO/sub 2/ is the dominant volatile component. The observed change in volatile compositions during metamorphism is consistent with a shift from relatively reducing to oxidizing conditions. The change from Zn- to Ag-rich veins may reflect the combined effects of a) volatile evolution of the metamorphic fluids through time, b) episodic development of large fractures with different orientations, and c) different lithologies contributing metamorphic fluids to these fractures.

Tip loss correction is known to play an important role for engineering prediction of wind turbine performance. There are two different types of tip loss corrections: tip corrections on momentum theory and tip corrections on airfoil data. In this paper, we study the latter using detailed CFD computations for wind turbines with sharp tip. Using the technique of determination of angle of attack and the CFD results for a NordTank 500 kW rotor, airfoil data are extracted and a new tip loss function on airfoil data is derived. To validate, BEM computations with the new tip loss function are carried out and compared with CFD results for the NordTank 500 kW turbine and the NREL 5 MW turbine. Comparisons show that BEM with the new tip loss function can predict correctly the loading near the blade tip.

Results are compared for comfort and environmental studies taken in conjunction with a STOL program. Data were taken on flights of four different airlines, each flying different aircraft. Two of the lines are classified as commuter airlines flying between relatively close destinations. The aircraft involved are: the De Havilland Twin Otter, a Canadian aircraft; the French Nord 262; the Beechcraft 99 Airliner and the Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, both American.

The atmospheric deposition of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, V and Zn in Hungary was investigated by using moss species as bioindicators. Our research was part of an international mapping project (Atmospheric Heavy Metal Deposition in Europe) [NORD 21 (1987) 1-44; NORD 9 (1994)] carried out in the most European countries in the 1990s to determine and to compare atmospheric heavy metal background pollution by standardized methods. Sampling was performed at 116 sites distributed over Hungary in the autumn of 1997. Moss species of Hypnum cupressiforme (72.4%) were preferred. But where it could not be collected, other species were taken. Unwashed, dried samples were digested with H(2)O(2)/HNO(3), and the concentrations of heavy metals were determined by ICP-AES. The results reflect local emission points. Background mean levels of Cd, Fe and Ni were mildly elevated in comparison to European means [NORD 9 (1994)]. Probably, that was due not only to pollution, but to the use of Hypnum cupressiforme, which can accumulate higher concentrations of heavy metals compared to other species. The results are presented on colored contour maps obtained with the SURFER program (Golden Software Inc. Co). PMID:12798100

Objective This study aimed to determine in detail the risk perception of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, and the contextual circumstances, in Nigerian commercial sex workers (CSWs) in Barcelona. Design A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. Setting Raval area in Barcelona. Participants 8 CSWs working in Barcelona. Methods A phenomenological study was carried out with Nigerian CSWs in Barcelona. Sampling was theoretical, taking into account: different age ranges; women with and without a partner; women with and without children; and women participating or not in STI/HIV-prevention workshops. Information was obtained by means of eight semistructured individual interviews. An interpretative content analysis was conducted by four analysts. Results Illegal immigrant status, educational level, financial situation and work, and cultural context had mixed effects on CSW knowledge of, exposure to, and prevention and treatment of STI and HIV. CSWs were aware of the higher risk of STI associated with their occupation. They identified condoms as the best preventive method and used them during intercourse with clients. They also implemented other preventive behaviours such as personal hygiene after intercourse. Control of sexual services provided, health education and healthcare services had a positive effect on decreasing exposure and better management of STI/HIV. Conclusions Nigerian CSWs are a vulnerable group because of their poor socioeconomic status. The perception of risk in this group and their preventive behaviours are based on personal determinants, beliefs and experiences from their home country and influences from the host country. Interventions aimed at CSWs must address knowledge gaps, risk behaviours and structural elements. PMID:26078307

This curriculum provides the basic information everyone needs to avoid HIV infection, but was specifically designed for Latino farmworker students in grades 6-7. The student materials are written in Spanish and English and may be used with older student or young adults, or in English-as-a-second-language courses. An introduction provides…

Smart Start is North Carolina's model early childhood initiative to help all North Carolina children enter school healthy and prepared for success. This resource guide, in Spanish and English versions, is designed to provide parents with information on infant and child development, health care, and resources for further assistance. Presented in an…

This report describes a course held in Spanish at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center in Haifa, Israel. The course considered various themes related to the education, health, and well-being of preschool children. Participants were 30 individuals from Central and South American countries who held decision-making positions in…

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Due to their geographic proximity and shared natural resources, cooperation on energy-related and environmental issues is particularly important for the nine countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. Currently, two projects are underway that have placed the level of cooperation within the region under the microscope: the environmental management work undertaken by the Helsinki Commission for the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (HELCOM) and the Nord Stream pipeline project, which, when completed, will provide the direct transportation of natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic seafloor. Although both have been declared inclusive and decidedly Baltic ventures by some regional actors, reception of the cooperative efforts amongst the littoral Baltic countries has been markedly different. This study addresses these varying reactions by examining Estonia's participation in and subsequent perspectives on the HELCOM and Nord Stream projects. A theoretical framework grounded in the discipline of international relations is utilized to analyze Estonia's role in the projects and its position as a small state in a regional context. The primary areas of focus are how historical experiences and current levels of cooperation in the two endeavors have shaped Estonia's responses and, ultimately, its 'realist' perception of global politics. The study concludes that Estonia appears to have more substantive participation in HELCOM than in the Nord Stream project because of the tendency of states to securitize and, thus, prioritize the energy policy area over the environmental. Estonian foreign policy behavior, however, perpetuates the state-centric and power-centered policy processes that dominate the international political system.

The seismograph at the Danish military outpost, Station Nord (NOR) in North East Greenland, records many regional/local earthquakes every day. Most of these events originate at the Arctic plate boundary between the Eurasian and the North American plates. The plate boundary has a particularly active segment approximately 200 km from the seismograph. Additionally we find a seismically very active region 20-30 km from NOR on the Kronprins Christian Land peninsula. The BB seismograph at NOR was installed in 2002 and later upgraded with real-time telemetry as part of the GLISN-project. Since late 2013 data from NOR have been included in routine processing at GEUS. Phase readings on some of the older data, primarily 2002-2003, have been carried out previously in connection with other projects. As a result, phase readings for more than 6000 local events, recorded exclusively at NOR, were found in the GEUS data base. During the years 2004 to 2007 four locations were occupied by temporary BB seismographs on the North coast of Greenland as part of the Law of the Sea preparatory work. Data from these stations have not previously been analyzed for local and regional events. In this study we combine the recordings from NOR with phase readings from the temporary seismographs in Northern Greenland. The local events on Kronprins Christian Land range in magnitude from less than 2 to a 4.8 event widely recorded in the region and felt by the personnel at Station Nord on August 30, 2005. Station Nord is located in the seismically most active region of Greenland.

Prescriptions of PIMs and anticholinergic drugs lead to adverse events and hospitalizations in the elderly. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of PIMs and prescriptions with a high anticholinergic effect in a French region. All prescriptions dispensed at community pharmacies in patients aged 75 and older between January 1 and March 31, 2012 were extracted from French Health Insurance information System - Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region for patients affiliated to the Social Security. Prescription of PIMs was defined according to the Laroche list. The anticholinergic score for each prescription was calculated using the Anticholinergic Drug Scale (ADS). 65.6% (n=207,979) of people aged over 75 years, living in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region were included, of which 4.5% (n=9284) living in nursing homes. Patients received an average of 8.3 drugs over the 3-month study period. In 32.6% (n=67,863) of patients, at least one PMI was prescribed. According to the ADS, 10.0% (n=20,978) of patients in the general population and 24.0% (n=2231) of patients living in nursing homes was exposed to a prescription with a high or very high anticholinergic score (ADS≥3). Hydroxyzine prescribed in 51.4% (n=10,792) of them ranked first among drugs most often reported. In conclusion, PMIs and anticholinergic drugs were commonly prescribed in elderly living in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region. Improving the quality of prescriptions in the elderly appears necessary. PMID:25192614

This report summarizes the results of the second year of common murre (Uria aalge) restoration monitoring work conducted in the northern Gulf of Alaska for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. Information on population numbers, nesting chronology, and productivity of murres were collected by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) biologists at the injured East of Amatuli Island - Light Rock and Nord Island - Northwest Islet colonies in the Barren Islands during the 1993 breeding season. These data are presented and statistically compared with information reported in the 1989-1992 FWS murre damage assessment and restoration studies.

Event sizes and data rates at the CERN anti p p collider compose a formidable environment for a high level trigger. A system using three 168/E processors for experiment UA1 real-time event selection is described. With 168/E data memory expanded to 512K bytes, each processor holds a complete event allowing a FORTRAN trigger algorithm access to data from the entire detector. A smart CAMAC interface reads five Remus branches in parallel transferring one word to the target processor every 0.5 ..mu..s. The NORD host computer can simultaneously read an accepted event from another processor.

The criteria for allocating organs are one of the most debated ethical issue in the transplantation programs. The article examines some rules and principles followed by "Nord Italia Transplant program", summarized in its Principles' Charter and explained in a recent interdisciplinary book. General theories of justice and their application to individual clinical cases are commented and evaluated, in order to foster a public, democratic, transparent debate among professionals and citizens, scientific associations and customers' organizations. Some specific moral dilemmas are focused regarding the concepts of proportionate treatment, unselfish donation by living persons, promotion of local institutions efficiency. PMID:20677677

Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) systems across Europe are very heterogeneous, in particular because of different classification variables and algorithms as well as costing methodologies. But, given the challenge of increasing patient mobility within Europe, health systems are forced to incorporate a common patient classification language in order to compare and identify similar patients e.g. for reimbursement purposes. Beside the national adoption of DRGs for a wide range of purposes (measuring hospital activity vs. paying hospitals), a common DRG system can serve as an international communication basis among health administrators and can reduce the national development efforts as it is demonstrated by the NordDRG consortium. PMID:25905484

Candida yeasts are saprophytes naturally present in the environment and forming colonies on human mucous membranes and skin. They are opportunistic fungi that cause severe and even fatal infections in immunocompromised individuals. Several essential oils, including eucalyptus, pine, cinnamon and lemon, have been shown to be effective against Candida strains. This study addresses the chemical composition of some commercial lemon essential oils and their antifungal potential against selected Candida yeast strains. Antifungal potential and minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined for six commercial lemon essential oils against five Candida yeast strains (Candida albicans 31, Candida tropicalis 32, Candida glabrata 33, Candida glabrata 35 and Candida glabrata 38). On the basis of the GCMS analysis, it was found that the tested lemon essential oils had different chemical compositions, but mostly, they contained almost exclusively terpenes and oxygenated terpenes. The tests show that antifungal potential of lemon essential oils against Candida yeast strains was related to the high content of monoterpenoids and the type of Candida strains. From six tested commercial oils, only four (ETJA, Vera-Nord, Avicenna-Oil and Aromatic Art) shows antifungal potential against three Candida species (C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata). Vera-Nord and Avicenna-Oil show the best activity and effectively inhibit the growth of the C. albicans strain across the full range of the concentrations used. Our study characterises lemon essential oils, which could be used as very effective natural remedies against candidiasis caused by C. albicans. PMID:24436010

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Au/Y/p-InP/Pt Schottky barrier diode (SBD) are analyzed at room temperature. The Au/Y/p-InP/Pt SBD shows a good rectification behavior. The ideality factor (n), barrier height (Φb), series resistance (Rs) and shunt resistance (Rsh) are determined from the I-V measurements. The n and Φb values of Au/Y/p-InP/Pt SBD are found to be 1.32 and 0.62 eV respectively. The value of barrier height (BH) obtained from Norde function is compared with those calculated from Cheung's functions. The series resistance (Rs) is calculated from Cheung's and modified Norde functions. Additionally, it is found that n, Φb, Rs, and Rsh have strong correlation with the applied bias. Furthermore, at low and high voltage regions, ohmic and space-charge-limited conduction mechanisms are found to govern the current flow in the diode.

Abstract Two new species of Indigofera L. (Leguminosae) are described from the Sneeuberg Centre of Floristic Endemism on the southern Great Escarpment, Eastern and Western Cape Provinces, South Africa. Both species are localised high-altitude endemics. Indigofera magnifica Schrire & V.R. Clark is confined to the summit plateau of the Toorberg–Koudeveldberg–Meelberg west of Graaff-Reinet, and complements other western Sneeuberg endemics such as Erica passerinoides (Bolus) E.G.H. Oliv. and Faurea recondita Rourke & V.R. Clark. Indigofera asantasanensis Schrire & V.R. Clark is confined to a small area east of Graaff-Reinet, and complements several other eastern Sneeuberg endemics such as Euryops exsudans B. Nord & V.R. Clark and Euryops proteoides B. Nord. & V.R. Clark. Based on morphology, both new species belong to the Cape Clade of Indigofera, supporting a biogeographical link between the Cape Floristic Region and the Sneeuberg, as well as with the rest of the eastern Great Escarpment. PMID:25941448

The Ag/PTCDA/PEDOT:PSS/p-Si Schottky diode has been fabricated by adding a layer of organic compound 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) on top of the p-Si for which the junction characteristics have been investigated. The electronic properties of the device have been studied by the conventional I-V and the Norde's methods. For conventional I-V measurements the rectifying behavior has been observed with a rectification ratio of 236. The barrier height and ideality factor values of 0.81 eV and 3.5, respectively, for the structure have been obtained from the forward bias I-V characteristics. Various electrical parameters such as reverse saturation current, series resistance and shunt resistance have been calculated from the analysis of experimental I-V results and discussed in detail. The barrier height and the series resistance determined by the Norde's function are found in good agreement with the values calculated from conventional I-V measurements. The charge conduction mechanism has also been discussed.

β-Thalassemia is a genetic disease caused by a defect in the production of the β-like globin chain. More than 200 known different variants can lead to the disease and are mainly found in populations that have been exposed to malaria parasites. We recently described a duplication of four nucleotides in the first exon of β-globin gene in several families of patients living in Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France). Using the genotypes at 12 microsatellite markers surrounding the β-globin gene of four unrelated variant carriers plus an additional one recently discovered, we found that they shared a common haplotype indicating a founder effect that was estimated to have taken place 225 years ago (nine generations). In order to determine whether this variant arose in this region of Northern Europe or was introduced by migrants from regions of the world where thalassemia is endemic, we genotyped the first 4 unrelated variant carriers and 32 controls from Nord-Pas-de-Calais for 97 European ancestry informative markers (EAIMs). Using these EAIMs and comparing with population reference panels, we demonstrated that the variant carriers were very similar to the controls and were closer to North European populations than to South European or Middle-East populations. Rare β-thalassemia variants have already been described in patients sampled in non-endemic regions, but it is the first proof of a founder effect in Northern Europe. PMID:25469539

A 10-year statistics (2002-2011) of the Nordic Lightning Information System (NORDLIS) are presented. NORDLIS is a joined lightning location network between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia, comprising in 2011 of 32 lightning location sensors. Our data set contains a total of 4,121,649 cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes. We show the regional and temporal distribution of lightning in Northern Europe during the study period. Our results indicate that the average annual ground flash density values are greatest in Southern Sweden, Baltic countries and Western Finland. The average number of thunderstorm days is largest in the Baltic countries and Southwestern Sweden, and the annual number of ground flashes has varied during the study period from 250,000 to 620,000. The largest observed daily number of ground flashes is 51,500, and the largest daily ground flash density is about 5 CGs km- 2; this has occurred in southern Sweden in July 2003. The average daily number of ground flashes peaks in mid-July-early-August. Cold season (October-April) thunderstorms occur frequently over the North Sea west of Norway and in the west coast of Denmark. Our results also show that an intense thunderstorm may occur practically anywhere in the Northern Europe except for certain maritime and mountain areas.

In Guadalajara, on August 19, 20 and 21 was held the XII Foro Nacional de Educación en Salud, in line with the interest that both, the Dirección General and the Dirección de Prestaciones Médicas of the IMSS, have in training and updating the human resources for the care of the beneficiaries. The Unidad de Educación, Investigación y Políticas de Salud organized a meeting in which the actors of these tasks, the institutional staff and authorities from various universities worked together with the IMSS. PMID:26506481

Atmospheric mercury depletion episodes (AMDEs) were studied at Station Nord, Northeast Greenland, 81 degrees 36' N, 16 degrees 40' W, during the Arctic Spring. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) and ozone were measured starting from 1998 and 1999, respectively, until August 2002. GEM was measured with a TEKRAN 2735A automatic mercury analyzer based on preconcentration of mercury on a gold trap followed by detection using fluorescence spectroscopy. Ozone was measured by UV absorption. A scatter plot of GEM and ozone concentrations confirmed that also at Station Nord GEM and ozone are linearly correlated during AMDEs. The relationship between ozone and GEM is further investigated in this paper using basic reaction kinetics (i.e., Cl, ClO, Br, and BrO have been suggested as reactants for GEM). The analyses in this paper show that GEM in the Arctic troposphere most probably reacts with Br. On the basis of the experimental results of this paper and results from the literature, a simple parametrization for AMDE was included into the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM). In the model, GEM is converted linearly to reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) over sea ice with temperature below -4 degrees C with a lifetime of 3 or 10 h. The new AMDE parametrization was used together with the general parametrization of mercury chemistry [Petersen, G.; Munthe, J.; Pleijel, K.; Bloxam, R.; Vinod Kumar, A. Atmos. Environ. 1998, 32, 829-843]. The obtained model results were compared with measurements of GEM at Station Nord. There was good agreement between the start and general features periods with AMDEs, although the model could not reproduce the fast concentration changes, and the correlation between modeled and measured values decreased from 2000 to 2001 and further in 2002. The modeled RGM concentrations over the Arctic in 2000 were found to agree well with the temporal and geographical variability of the boundary column of monthly average BrO observed by the GOME satellite. Scenario

Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HH) is a recessively inherited disorder of iron overload occurring commonly in subjects homozygous for the C282Y mutation in HFE gene localized on chromosome 6p21.3 in linkage disequilibrium with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A locus. Although its genetic homogeneity, the phenotypic expression is variable suggesting the presence of modifying factors. One such genetic factor, a SNP microhaplotype named A-A-T, was recently found to be associated with a more severe phenotype and also with low CD8+T-lymphocyte numbers. The present study aimed to test whether the predictive value of the A-A-T microhaplotype remained in other population settings. In this study of 304 HH patients from 3 geographically distant populations (Porto, Portugal 65; Alabama, USA 57; Nord-Trøndelag, Norway 182), the extended haplotypes involving A-A-T were studied in 608 chromosomes and the CD8+ T-lymphocyte numbers were determined in all subjects. Patients from Porto had a more severe phenotype than those from other settings. Patients with A-A-T seemed on average to have greater iron stores (p = 0.021), but significant differences were not confirmed in the 3 separate populations. Low CD8+ T-lymphocytes were associated with HLA-A*03-A-A-T in Porto and Alabama patients but not in the greater series from Nord-Trøndelag. Although A-A-T may signal a more severe iron phenotype, this study was unable to prove such an association in all population settings, precluding its use as a universal predictive marker of iron overload in HH. Interestingly, the association between A-A-T and CD8+ T-lymphocytes, which was confirmed in Porto and Alabama patients, was not observed in Nord-Trøndelag patients, showing that common HLA haplotypes like A*01–B*08 or A*03–B*07 segregating with HFE/C282Y in the three populations may carry different messages. These findings further strengthen the relevance of HH as a good disease model to search for novel candidate loci associated with

University faculty and community agencies collaborated to design and implement Healthy Weigh/El camino saludable, a family-focused obesity prevention and intervention program in a low-income, urban community at high risk for obesity and related chronic disease. Hispanic and African American families participated in 12 weekly sessions. Offered in…

This article explores the connection between cognitive functioning and falls among seniors (greater than or equal to 60 years of age) in Havana, Cuba, after controlling for observable characteristics. Using the SABE (Salud, Bienestar, and Envejecimiento) cross-sectional database, we used an econometric strategy that takes advantage of available…

Cervical cancer is preventable with treatment of precancerous lesions and treatable at early stages. Hispanics have higher rates of cervical cancer and lower rates of screening. "Ayndando a las Mujeres con Informaccion, Guia, y Amor para su Salud" (AMIGAS) is an intervention to increase cervical cancer screening in U.S. women of Mexican origin.…

El Salvador has an unfortunate history that includes a military regime and a civil war that together created a legacy of violence in which the country still struggles nowadays. Salud Escolar Integral (SEI) was created in 2005 by universities, federal governments, a corporate sponsor, and sport associations as a program to combat youth violence…

Carreras en Salud (Careers in Health) provides bilingual/bicultural individuals with a fully-supported customized career path for nursing and other allied health occupations bridging individuals from unemployment/underemployment to high-demand healthcare positions. Healthcare providers, elected officials, and community leaders have partnered with…

Modeled upon the ecclesiastic community group concept of Latin America to unite and strengthen the bond between the Church and neighborhoods, a community-based organization created Vecinos Unidos por la Salud (Neighbors United for Health) to bring health messages into urban Latino neighborhoods. The model is based on five tenants, and incorporates…

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This study evaluated the distribution pattern and pollution of chromium, arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), nickel, lead, and copper in surface sediments along the northern Latium coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy. The enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, and potential toxicity response index were used to evaluate the degree of contamination. These results show As and Mn contamination. The high enrichment and contamination levels of As and Mn are located in two hot spots. These elevations are due to naturally high levels of As and Mn in the Mignone River and the Marangone Stream as well as the intense human activity in the area including the largest energy production site in Europe (Torrevaldaliga Nord coal-fired power plant) and of one of the most important ports for cruise traffic in the Mediterranean Sea. PMID:26033264

The Italian company Engitec Impianti has developed a new electrochemical technology for the treatment of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) flue dust generated in steel mini-mills. This process is based on a new and completely different concept from the Waeltz technology applied at present and allows, due to its modular nature, for an erection on the steel producer`s site. Engitec Impianti spent US $700.000 constructing a 500 t/y throughput pilot plant at Pittini Group`s Ferriere Nord mini-mill in Osoppo, Italy in order to demonstrate the process capabilities and obtain the data for a commercial plant design. The paper describes the pilot plant performances and the engineering criteria for a commercial unit of 10.000 t/y throughput. The feasibility study demonstrates a pay-back period of 3--4 years for the commercial plant.

Mara Nord is an international cooperation project financed by Interreg IVA Nord funding program with partners from Finland, Sweden and Norway. One of the objectives in Mara Nord project has been to research the quality assurance of new asphalt pavement. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey is used as an alternative method for coring in quality assurance. There exist numerous advantages for the use of GPR. For example, the fluent measuring arrangements without closing the traffic on the road and the extensive continuous profile that can be constructed from the measuring data. Within the framework of Mara Nord Project field tests were organized in Seinäjoki region in Finland on August 2011. The tests were done by four consulting companies from Finland and Rovaniemi University of Applied Sciences. The aim of these tests was to compare the measured dielectric value profiles and the calculated void content profiles of the equipment. The tested equipment was GSSI manufactured SIR-20 and 1 GHz horn antennas. Void content values were calculated using the model presented by Mr. Roimela (1997). All core samples were taken from the right wheel path. The same reference core samples were used when analyzing the data of each GPR equipment. Some samples were taken right after the pavement work was completed with the rest three weeks after during the test measurements. The tests indicated that GPRs have very good repeatability in measuring dielectric changes on top surface layers of asphalt pavements. Furthermore, different GPRs locate the same detectable longitudinal dielectric changes with high accuracy. Some differences were found in the dielectric value levels, yet reproducibility of the calculated void content values was quite good. The test data was also used to evaluate the reliability of the regression model between the dielectric values measured through GPR and the void content of the pavement determined from reference cores. Test data indicated that accurate regression

In this work, we have applied Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA)to data sets taken from the Nordic spot electricity market. Our main interest was in trying to correlate their volatility with variables obtained from the quantification of recurrence plots (RP). For this reason we have based our analysis on known historical events: the evolution of the Nord Pool market and climatic factors, i.e. dry and wet years, and we have compared several dispersion measures with RQA measures in correspondence of these events. The analysis suggests that two RQA measures: DET and LAM can be used as a measure of the inverse of the volatility. The main advantage of using DET and LAM is that these measures provide also information about the underlying dynamics. This fact is shown using shuffled and linear Gaussian surrogates of the real time series.

Bathymetric, gravity, and magnetic data collected in the southwest Pacific Ocean over the northern New Caledonia ridge show that the main geological units known from the island of New Caledonia extend northward from this island, beneath the Grand Lagon Nord, the Grand Passage, and the d'Entrecasteaux reefs. These data support the model of tectonic evolution of the New Caledonia region proposed by Kroenke (1984). Differences in structure, geophysical signatures and morphology evident between areas north and those south of the Grand Passage, together with the nearness of the Le Noroit massif west of the Grand Passage, suggest that contemporaneously with Eocene to early Oligocene subduction along the western New Caledonia margin, an arc-ridge collision may have occurred near the northern termination of this subduction zone. -from Authors

An ecoethological study was undertaken on the activity rhythms, diet, ranging and social behavior of 3 aye-ayes. Preliminary information on reproduction and mother-infant relations are given. The study included research into the different habitat types in which the aye-aye was found within the Biosphere Reserve at Mananara-Nord. In addition, the impact of habitat degradation on aye-aye ecology was investigated. The aye-ayes spent the majority of time in locomotion; resting accounted for a surprisingly small amount of their activity cycles. Animals spent almost half of their time between 0 and 10 m above ground. Signs of aye-aye activity were never found in highly disturbed areas but were common in plantations, secondary littoral and primary forests. PMID:7721207

Cupric oxide (CuO) films with n-type conductivity and polycrystalline structure were successfully synthesized onto p-Si substrates by simple thermal oxidation of copper films prepared by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique. Scanning electron microscope showed that the films consist of spherical particles with a diameter in the range of 0.5-0.67 μm. The dark current-voltage characteristics of Co/n-CuO/p-Si/Al diode were investigated in temperature range 300-390 K. The ideality factor and barrier height were determined in terms of thermionic emission theory. Norde's function was used for determining the barrier height and series resistance. At relatively higher applied voltage, space charge limited current dominated by exponential trap of distribution is the operating conduction mechanism. The Co/CuO/p-Si multilayers showed ferromagnetic response in which the coercivity and saturation magnetization are evaluated.

We studied the roles of lightly doped carbon in a series of n-GaN Schottky diode epitaxial structures on freestanding GaN substrates, and evaluated the effects of the doping on diode performances. A large variation of compensation ratio was observed for carbon doping at (1-2) × 1016 cm-3. A model was proposed to explain this phenomenon, in which a vulnerable balance between donor-type CGa and deep acceptor CN strongly affected the free-carrier generation. Application of Norde plots and reverse biased leakage current in current-voltage measurements suggested provisional optimization for a free-carrier concentration of 8 × 1015 cm-3 to achieve a tradeoff between breakdown voltage and on-resistance of the n-GaN diodes.

Sources, composition and occurrence of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in the Arctic were investigated at Zeppelin Mountain, Svalbard, and Station Nord, northeast Greenland, during the full annual cycle of 2008 and 2010 respectively. We focused on the speciation of three types of SOA tracers: organic acids, organosulfates and nitrooxy organosulfates from both anthropogenic and biogenic precursors, here presenting organosulfate concentrations and compositions during a full annual cycle and chemical speciation of organosulfates in Arctic aerosols for the first time. Aerosol samples were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a quadrupole Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer (HPLC-q-TOF-MS). A total of 11 organic acids (terpenylic acid, benzoic acid, phthalic acid, pinic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, pinonic acid, diaterpenylic acid acetate (DTAA) and 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid (MBTCA)), 12 organosulfates and one nitrooxy organosulfate were identified at the two sites. Six out of the 12 organosulfates are reported for the first time. Concentrations of organosulfates follow a distinct annual pattern at Station Nord, where high concentration were observed in late winter and early spring, with a mean total concentration of 47 (±14) ng m-3, accounting for 7 (±2)% of total organic matter, contrary to a considerably lower organosulfate mean concentration of 2 (±3) ng m-3 (accounting for 1 (±1)% of total organic matter) observed during the rest of the year. The organic acids followed the same temporal trend as the organosulfates at Station Nord; however the variations in organic acid concentrations were less pronounced, with a total mean organic acid concentration of 11.5 (±4) ng m-3 (accounting for 1.7 (±0.6)% of total organic matter) in late winter and early spring, and 2.2 (±1) ng m-3 (accounting for 0.9 (±0.4)% of total organic matter) during the rest of the year. At Zeppelin Mountain

ABSTRACT This article investigates the possible consequences in self-reported health and receipt of sickness benefits when parenting a child with a disability This study uses data from the population health study, The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT 2), and the historical event database, FD-Trygd, which contains Social Security and national insurance data for the Norwegian population. In the analysis, we compare 1587 parents of a child with a disability to other parents. Results indicate that parenting a disabled child impacts on self-reported health, particularly among mothers; however, being a parent to a disabled child has a much stronger effect in explaining the variance in received sickness benefits, and also length of time and frequency of having received sickness benefits. Parents with disabled children report just slightly lower self-reported health but are on sickness benefits more often than other parents which may be attributed to their extended care responsibilities.

This study investigates the effects of annealing on the electrical properties and current transport mechanism of Y/ p-GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). We found no significant change in the surface morphology of the Y Schottky contacts during the annealing process. The Schottky barrier height (SBH) of the as-deposited Y/ p-GaN SBD was estimated to be 0.95 eV ( I- V)/1.19 eV ( C- V). The SBH increased upon annealing at 400°C and 500°C, and then decreased slightly with annealing at 600°C. Thus the maximum SBH of the Y/ p-GaN SBD was achieved at 500°C, with values of 1.01 eV ( I- V)/1.29 eV ( C- V). In addition, the SBH values were estimated by Cheung's, Norde, and Ψs- V plots and were found to be in good agreement with one another. Series resistance ( R S) values were also calculated by I- V, Cheung's, and Norde functions at different annealing temperatures, with results showing a decrease in the interface state density of the SBD with annealing at 500°C, followed by a slight increase upon annealing at 600°C. The forward-bias current transport mechanism of SBD was investigated by the log I-log V plot at different annealing temperatures. Our investigations revealed that the Poole-Frenkel emission mechanism dominated the reverse leakage current in Y/ p-GaN SBD at all annealing temperatures.

The knowledge of climate effects of atmospheric aerosols is associated with large uncertainty, and a better understanding of their physical and chemical properties is needed, especially in the Arctic environment. The objective of the present study is to improve our understanding of the processes affecting the composition of the aerosols in the high Arctic. Therefore size-segregated aerosols were sampled at a high Arctic site, Station Nord (Northeast Greenland), in March 2009 using a Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor. The aerosol samples were extracted in order to analyze the three water-soluble anions: chloride, nitrate and sulphate. The results are discussed based on possible chemical and physical transformations as well as transport patterns. The total concentrations of the ions at Station Nord were 53-507 ng m-3, 2-298 ng m-3 and 535-1087 ng m-3 for chloride (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-) and sulphate (SO42-), respectively. The aerosols in late winter/early spring, after polar sunrise, are found to be a mixture of long-range transported and regional to local originating aerosols. Fine particles, smaller than 1 μm, containing SO42-, Cl- and NO3-, are hypothesized to originate from long-range transport, where SO42- is by far the dominating anion accounting for 50-85% of the analyzed mass. The analysis suggests that Cl- and NO3- in coarser particles (>1.5 μm) originate from local/regional sources. Under conditions where the air mass is transported over sea-ice at high wind speeds, very coarse particles (>18 μm) are observed and it is hypothesized that frost flowers on the sea ice is a source of very coarse chloride particles in the Arctic.

The knowledge of climate effects of atmospheric aerosols is associated with large uncertainty, and a better understanding of their physical and chemical properties is needed, especially in the Arctic environment. The objective of the present study is to improve our understanding of the processes affecting the composition of aerosols in the high Arctic. Therefore size-segregated aerosols were sampled at a high Arctic site, Station Nord (Northeast Greenland), in March 2009 using a Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor. The aerosol samples were extracted in order to analyse three water-soluble anions: chloride, nitrate and sulphate. The results are discussed based on possible chemical and physical transformations as well as transport patterns. The total concentrations of the ions at Station Nord were 53-507 ng m-3, 2-298 ng m-3 and 535-1087 ng m-3 for chloride (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-) and sulphate (SO42-), respectively. The aerosols in late winter/early spring, after polar sunrise, are found to be a mixture of long-range transported and regional to local originating aerosols. Fine particles, smaller than 1 μm, containing SO42-, Cl- and NO3-, are hypothesized to originate from long-range transport, where SO42- is by far the dominating anion accounting for 50-85% of the analyzed mass. The analysis suggests that Cl- and NO3- in coarser particles (> 1.5 μm) originate from local/regional sources. Under conditions where the air mass is transported over sea ice at high wind speeds, very coarse particles (> 18 μm) are observed, and it is hypothesized that frost flowers on the sea ice are a source of the very coarse nitrate particles.

Background: Indigenous populations are disproportionately affected by traumatic brain injury. These populations rely on large jurisdiction surveillance efforts to inform their prevention strategies, which may not address their needs. We examined the incidence and determinants of traumatic brain injury in an indigenous population in the Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James health region of the province of Quebec and compared them with the incidence and determinants in 2 neighbouring health regions and in the province overall. Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study of patients in Quebec admitted to hospital with incident traumatic brain injury, stratified by health region (Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James, Nunavik and Nord-du-Québec), from 2000 to 2012. We used MED-ÉCHO administrative data for case-finding. A subgroup analysis of adults in the Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James health region was completed to assess determinants of the severity of traumatic brain injury and patient outcomes. Results: A total of 172 hospital admissions for incident traumatic brain injury occurred in the Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James region during the study period. The incidence was 92.1 per 100 000 person-years, and the adjusted incidence rate ratio was 1.84 (95% confidence interval 1.56-2.17) compared with the entire province. The incidence was higher than in the neighbouring nonindigenous population (Nord-du-Québec) but significantly lower than in the neighbouring indigenous population (Nunavik). Determinants of traumatic brain injury in the Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James region differed from those in the neighbouring populations and in the entire province. Interpretation: We found that the incidence rates and determinants of traumatic brain injury requiring hospital admission varied greatly between the three regions studied. Community-based surveillance efforts should be encouraged to inform the development of relevant prevention strategies.

Energy policy of the European Community is implemented by setting various goals in directives and developing support mechanisms to achieve them. However, very often these policies and legislation come into contradiction with each other, for example Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency, repealing Directive 2004/8/EC on the promotion of cogeneration based on a useful heat demand. In this paper, the authors attempt to assess the potential conflicts between policy political objectives to increase the share of high-efficiency co-generation and renewable energy sources (RES), based on the example of Riga district heating system (DHS). If a new heat source using biomass is built on the right bank of Riga DHS to increase the share of RES, the society could overpay for additional heat production capacities, such as a decrease in the loading of existing generating units, thereby contributing to an inefficient use of existing capacity. As a result, the following negative consequences may arise: 1) a decrease in primary energy savings (PES) from high-efficiency cogeneration in Riga DHS, 2) an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Baltic region, 3) the worsening security situation of electricity supply in the Latvian power system, 4) an increase in the electricity market price in the Lithuanian and Latvian price areas of Nord Pool power exchange. Within the framework of the research, calculations of PES and GHG emission volumes have been performed for the existing situation and for the situation with heat source, using biomass. The effect of construction of biomass heat source on power capacity balances and Nord Pool electricity prices has been evaluated.

Objectives To explore all-cause mortality and the association between symptoms of depression and all-cause mortality in farmers compared with other occupational groups, using a prospective cohort design. Methods We included adult participants with a known occupation from the second wave of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag 2 (HUNT2) 1995–1997), Norway. Complete information on emigration and death from all causes was obtained from the National Registries. We used the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure symptoms of depression. We compared farmers to 4 other occupational groups. Our baseline study population comprised 32 618 participants. Statistical analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards models. Results The estimated mortality risk in farmers was lower than in all other occupations combined, with a sex and age-adjusted HR (0.91, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.00). However, farmers had an 11% increased age-adjusted and sex-adjusted mortality risk compared with the highest ranked socioeconomic group (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.25). In farmers, symptoms of depression were associated with a 13% increase in sex-adjusted and age-adjusted mortality risk (HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.45). Compared with other occupations this was the lowest HR, also after adjusting for education, marital status, long-lasting limiting somatic illness and lifestyle factors (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.39). Conclusions Farmers had lower all-cause mortality compared with the other occupational groups combined. Symptoms of depression were associated with an increased mortality risk in farmers, but the risk increase was smaller compared with the other occupational groups. PMID:27188811

The resolution of the MRE's (Multiple Regression Equations) is an important tool for fitting different geodetic network. Nevertheless, in different fields of engineering and earth science, certain cases need more accuracy; the ordinary least squares (linear least squares) prove to be limited. Thus, we have to use new numerical methods of resolution that can provide a great efficiency of polynomial modelisation. In geodesy the accuracy of coordinates determination and network adjustment is very important, that's why instead of being limited to the linear models, we have to apply the non linear least squares resolution for the transformation problem between geodetic systems. This need, appears especially in the case of Nord-Sahara datum (Algeria), on wich the linear models are not much appropriate, because of the lack of information about the geoid's undulation. In this paper, we have fixed as main aim, to carry out the importance of using non linear least squares to improve the quality of geodetic adjustment and coordinates transformation and even the extent of his use. The algorithms carried out concerned the application of two models: three dimensions (global transformation) and the two-dimension one (local transformation) over huge area (Algeria). We compute coordinates transformation parameters and their Rms by both of the ordinary least squares and new algorithms, then we perform a statistical analysis in order to compare on the one hand between the linear adjustment with its two variants (local and global) and the non linear one. In this context, a set of 16 benchmark, have been integrated to compute the transformation parameters (3D and 2D). Different non linear optimization algorithms (Newton algorithm, Steepest Descent, and Levenberg-Marquardt) have been implemented to solve transformation problem. Conclusions and recommendations are given with respect to the suitability, accuracy and efficiency of each method. Key words: MRE's, Nord Sahara, global

This booklet, written in English, Spanish, and French, describes the foundation and reasoning behind the partnership to Focus on Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH), making the case that an effective school health program: responds to the greater number of school-age children and the greater proportion of those children attending school;…

The first half of Judith Ortiz Cofer's novel "The Line of the Sun" (1989) narrates events that take place in the small fictional town of Salud, Puerto Rico, during the 1940s and 50s. In the second part of the novel, starting with chapter six, the readers see how two characters from the first half, Rafael and Ramona, and their young children,…

This paper discusses the professionalization of nurses in Argentina during Peron's administration (1946-1955). We will focus on two nursing schools during such period: Escuela de Engermas de la Secretaría de Salud Pública (1947) and Escuela de Enfermeras "7 de mayo" member of Fundación Eva Perón (1950). We will analyze the institutional disputes over budgetary positions in the context of greater government intervention in public health issues. PMID:21299026

Few studies of community interventions examine independent effects of investments in: (1) capital (i.e., physical, human and social capital), and (2) management systems (e.g., monitoring and evaluation systems (M&E)) on maternal and child health behavior change. This paper does this in the context of an inter-organizational network. In Nicaragua, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local NGOs formed the NicaSalud Federation. Using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS), 14 member organizations took baselines measures of maternal safe motherhood and child health behavior indicators during November 1999 and August 2000, respectively, and final evaluation measures in December 2001. In April 2002, retrospective interviews were conducted with supervisors and managers in the 14 organizations to explore changes made to community health strategies, factors associated with the changes, and impacts they attributed to participating in NicaSalud. Physical capital (density of health huts), human capital (density and variety of paramedical personnel) and social capital (density of health committees) were associated with pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) 3+ times, and/or retaining ANC cards. The variety of paramedic personnel was also associated with women making post-partum visits to clinics. Physical capital (density of health huts) and social capital (density of health committees and mothers' clubs) were associated with child diarrhea case management indicators. One safe motherhood indicator (delivery of babies by a clinician) was not associated with intervention strategies. At the management level, NicaSalud's training of members to use LQAS for M&E was associated with the number of strategic and tactical changes they subsequently made to interventions (organizational learning). Organizational learning was related to changes in maternal and child health behaviors of the women (including changes in the proportion using post-partum care). As the

We report the social marketing strategies used for the design, recruitment and retention of participants in a community-based physical activity (PA) intervention, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health). The study example used to illustrate the use of social marketing is a 48-week prescribed walking program, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health), which tests a social support intervention to explore the effectiveness of a culturally specific program using 'bouts' of PA to effect the changes in body fat, fat tissue inflammation and postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary Hispanic women. Using the guidelines from the National Benchmark Criteria, we developed intervention, recruitment and retention strategies that reflect efforts to draw on community values, traditions and customs in intervention design, through partnership with community members. Most of the women enrolled in Madres para la Salud were born in Mexico, largely never or unemployed and resided among the highest crime neighborhoods with poor access to resources. We developed recruitment and retention strategies that characterized social marketing strategies that employed a culturally relevant, consumer driven and problem-specific design. Cost and benefit of program participation, consumer-derived motivation and segmentation strategies considered the development transition of the young Latinas as well as cultural and neighborhood barriers that impacted retention are described. PMID:23002252

We report the social marketing strategies used for the design, recruitment and retention of participants in a community-based physical activity (PA) intervention, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health). The study example used to illustrate the use of social marketing is a 48-week prescribed walking program, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health), which tests a social support intervention to explore the effectiveness of a culturally specific program using ‘bouts’ of PA to effect the changes in body fat, fat tissue inflammation and postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary Hispanic women. Using the guidelines from the National Benchmark Criteria, we developed intervention, recruitment and retention strategies that reflect efforts to draw on community values, traditions and customs in intervention design, through partnership with community members. Most of the women enrolled in Madres para la Salud were born in Mexico, largely never or unemployed and resided among the highest crime neighborhoods with poor access to resources. We developed recruitment and retention strategies that characterized social marketing strategies that employed a culturally relevant, consumer driven and problem-specific design. Cost and benefit of program participation, consumer-derived motivation and segmentation strategies considered the development transition of the young Latinas as well as cultural and neighborhood barriers that impacted retention are described. PMID:23002252

This report summarizes the outcomes of a meeting on cystic echinococcosis (CE) in animals and humans in Chile held in Santiago, Chile, between the 21st and 22nd of January 2016. The meeting participants included representatives of the Departamento de Zoonosis, Ministerio de Salud (Zoonotic Diseases Department, Ministry of Health), representatives of the Secretarias Regionales del Ministerio de Salud (Regional Department of Health, Ministry of Health), Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Agropecuario (National Institute for the Development of Agriculture and Livestock, INDAP), Instituto de Salud Pública (National Institute for Public Health, ISP) and the Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (Animal Health Department, SAG), academics from various universities, veterinarians and physicians. Current and future CE control activities were discussed. It was noted that the EG95 vaccine was being implemented for the first time in pilot control programmes, with the vaccine scheduled during 2016 in two different regions in the South of Chile. In relation to use of the vaccine, the need was highlighted for acquiring good quality data, based on CE findings at slaughterhouse, previous to initiation of vaccination so as to enable correct assessment of the efficacy of the vaccine in the following years. The current world's-best-practice concerning the use of ultrasound as a diagnostic tool for the screening population in highly endemic remote and poor areas was also discussed. PMID:27624561

20 years ago, a new diarrheal disease was introduced in Peru and the Enteropathogens Reference Laboratory of the Instituto Nacional de Salud had an outstanding role in the isolation and rapid and timely identification of Vibrio cholerae. Cholera had not been seen before, but during the last week of January 1991 an outbreak of acute diarrhea was detected, presenting intense dehydration and some deaths. The epidemic affected, in the beginning, many locations of the peruvian coast. Some working teams of the General Office of Epidemiology and of the Instituto Nacional de Salud obtained fecal samples from patients with acute diarrhea coming from the cities of Chancay, Chimbote, Piura and some hospitals in Lima. The collected samples were transported on Cary and Blair media and processed in the National Reference Laboratory of Enteropathogens (LANARE) of the Instituto Nacional de Salud. Vibrio cholerae serogroup 01 biovar El Tor serovar Inaba was isolated from all the samples, it was sensible to tetracyclines and other antibiotics. This research confirmed the first outbreak of cholera in Peru. PMID:21537782

Salud Responde (in English: Healthline) is a Health Service and Information Centre of the taxpayer-funded Andalusian Health System (AHS) that offers a Telephone Health Advisory Service called SA24h, among other services. The main objective of SA24h is to inform and advise citizens on health issues and the available health resources of the AHS. SA24h has a Customer Relationship Management information technology tool that organises information at various levels of specialization. Depending on the difficulty of the query, the citizen is attended by professionals with distinct profiles, providing a consensual response within the professionals working within Salud Responde or within other healthcare levels of the AHS. SA24h provided responses to 757,168 patient queries from late 2008 to the end of 01/12/2015. A total of 9.38% of the consultations were resolved by the non-health professionals working at Salud Responde. The remaining 84.07% were resolved by health staff. A total of 6.5% of users were referred to accident and emergency facilities while 88.77% did not need to attend their general practitioner within the next 24hours, thus avoiding unnecessary visits to health care facilities. PMID:26900101

possibility of corrosion cracking as in Davis-Besse and other plants. Latin America, as many other regions on the earth, needs water as much as electricity. IRIS has developed a water desalination co-generation design which can employ a variety of processes as dictated by local and economic conditions. Applications to the arid Brazilian Nord-Este and Mexican Nord-Oeste are being considered.

The genes that encode the hc-type nitric-oxide reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans have been identified. They are part of a cluster of six genes (norCBQDEF) and are found near the gene cluster that encodes the cd1-type nitrite reductase, which was identified earlier [de Boer, A. P. N., Reijnders, W. N. M., Kuenen, J. G., Stouthamer, A. H. & van Spanning, R. J. M. (1994) Isolation, sequencing and mutational analysis of a gene cluster involved in nitrite reduction in Paracoccus denitrificans, Antonie Leeu wenhoek 66, 111-127]. norC and norB encode the cytochrome-c-containing subunit II and cytochrome b-containing subunit I of nitric-oxide reductase (NO reductase), respectively. norQ encodes a protein with an ATP-binding motif and has high similarity to NirQ from Pseudomonas stutzeri and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and CbbQ from Pseudomonas hydrogenothermophila. norE encodes a protein with five putative transmembrane alpha-helices and has similarity to CoxIII, the third subunit of the aa3-type cytochrome-c oxidases. norF encodes a small protein with two putative transmembrane alpha-helices. Mutagenesis of norC, norB, norQ and norD resulted in cells unable to grow anaerobically. Nitrite reductase and NO reductase (with succinate or ascorbate as substrates) and nitrous oxide reductase (with succinate as substrate) activities were not detected in these mutant strains. Nitrite extrusion was detected in the medium, indicating that nitrate reductase was active. The norQ and norD mutant strains retained about 16% and 23% of the wild-type level of NorC, respectively. The norE and norF mutant strains had specific growth rates and NorC contents similar to those of the wild-type strain, but had reduced NOR and NIR activities, indicating that their gene products are involved in regulation of enzyme activity. Mutant strains containing the norCBQDEF region on the broad-host-range vector pEG400 were able to grow anaerobically, although at a lower specific growth rate and with lower

Several arthropods are natural predators of pests, and they are able to reduce and control their population development. FREDON Nord Pas-de-Calais (Federation Regionate de Defense contre les Organismes Nuisibles = Regional Federation for Pest Control) has begun for a long time to form farmers to the recognition of beneficial arthropods and to show them their usefulness. These beneficial insects or arachnids are present everywhere, in orchards and even in fields which are areas relatively poor in biodiversity. Adults feed in the flower strips instead larvae and some adults feed on preys such as aphids or caterpillars. Most of the time, beneficial insects can regulate pest but sometimes, in agricultural area, they can't make it early enough and efficiently. Their action begin too late and there biodiversity and number are too low. It's possible to enhance their action by manipulating the ecological infrastructures, like sewing flower strips or installing refuges. Flower strips increase the density of natural enemies and make them be present earlier in the field in order to control pests. Refuges permit beneficial's to spend winter on the spot. So they're able to be active and to grow in number earlier. From 2004 to 2007, on the one hand, FREDON Nord Pas-de-Calais has developed a research program. Its purpose was to inventory practices and also tools and means available and to judge the advisability of using such or such beneficial refuge in orchards. On the second hand, it studied the impact in orchard of refuges on population of beneficial's and the difference there were between manufactured refuges and homemade refuges. Interesting prospects were obtained with some of them. Otherwise, since 2003, FREDON has studied flower strips influence on beneficial population and their impact on pest control. In cabbage fields, results of trials have shown that flower strips lead to a reduction of aphid number under acceptable economic level, up to 50 meters from flower strips

Semi-diurnal and fortnightly surveys were carried out to quantify the effects of wind- and navigation-induced high-energy events on bed sediments above intertidal mudflats. The mudflats are located in the upper fluvial part (Oissel mudflat) and at the mouth (Vasière Nord mudflat) of the macrotidal Seine estuary. Instantaneous flow velocities and mudflat bed elevation were measured at a high frequency and high resolution with an acoustic doppler velocimeter (ADV) and an ALTUS altimeter, respectively. Suspended particulate matter concentrations were estimated by calibrating the ADV acoustic backscattered intensity with bed sediments collected at the study sites. Turbulent bed shear stress values were estimated by the turbulent kinetic energy method, using velocity variances filtered from the wave contribution. Wave shear stress and maximum wave-current shear stress values were calculated with the wave-current interaction (WCI) model, which is based on the bed roughness length, wave orbital velocities and the wave period ( TS). In the fluvial part of the estuary, boat passages occurred unevenly during the surveys and were characterized by long waves ( TS>50 s) induced by the drawdown effect and by short boat-waves ( TS<10 s). Boat waves generated large bottom shear stress values of 0.5 N m -2 for 2-5 min periods and, in burst of several seconds, larger bottom shear stress values up to 1 N m -2. At the mouth of the estuary, west south-west wind events generated short waves ( TS<10 s) of HS values ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 m. In shallow-water environment (water depth <1.5 m), these waves produced bottom shear stress values between 1 and 2 N m -2. Wave-current shear stress values are one order of magnitude larger than the current-induced shear stress and indicate that navigation and wind are the dominant hydrodynamic forcing parameters above the two mudflats. Bed elevation and SPM concentration time series showed that these high energy events induced erosion processes of

Vitrification of the high-active liquid waste concentrates (HAWC) was a major milestone in the WAK decommissioning project (StiWAK). From September 2009 to June 2010, about 56 m{sup 3} of HAWC were vitrified at the Karlsruhe vitrification facility (VEK) and filled into 123 canisters. HAWC vitrification was followed by an extensive rinsing and shutdown program, in the course of which both the VEK process installations and the facilities for the storage and evaporation of high-active fission product solutions (LAVA) are prepared specifically for dismantling. Finally the rinsing programme leads to an overall reduction of the remaining contamination in the installations by a factor of approx. 5 - 10. The amount of liquids arisen from this program has been vitrified and another 17 canisters have been filled. In total, 140 canisters were packed into 5 CASTOR casks that were already transported to the Zwischenlager Nord (interim store North) of EWN GmbH (ZLN) in the mid of February 2011. The melter of the VEK was already shut down in the late November 2010. (authors)

In the 6 countries covered by this report, the extent of valid petroleum rights, seismic work, and drilling was nearly the same as in 1978. The success rate of wildcat drilling decreased slightly, to 28% (33% in 1978), with 26 oil or gas discoveries. In southwestern Tunisia, the Amoco Sabrina Nord 1 tested 930 bbl of 39/sup 0/ APl oil from Cambrian-Ordovician sandstones - the first oil to come from lower Paleozoic rocks in Tunisia. First commercial oil from Cambrian-Ordovician rocks in western Libya was discovered by Agip A1-NC40 which flowed 1,400 b/d. Highlight of the year in North Africa was in the interior basin of Sudan where the Chevron Abu Gabra 1 tested 900 BOPD of 40/sup 0/ APl oil from Cretaceous rocks; 2 other wells, spudded in late 1979 in the same area, have tested 3,200 and 7,300 b/d, respectively, in early 1980. Discovery well of the interior basin was Chevron Unity 1 which tested small amounts of oil in 1978. Oil production in North Africa in 1979 averaged 3,939,500 b/d compared with 3,802,800 b/d in 1978, an increase of 3.6%.

In France, both active and retired coal miners take part in medical surveillance programs. Those compensated for pneumoconiosis are registered and receive annual chest X-rays and regular lung function assessments. A longitudinal study was done among 2719 pneumoconiotics from the Nord-Pas de Calais region Compensation Register, who received first compensation between 1942 and 1987 to study progression of CSWP. Chest radiographs taken at time of compensation and in 1987 were examined by three independent readers. There was a change over time in the characteristics of pneumoconiosis at the time of first compensation toward a low profusion of irregular opacities. In the period from 1982 to 1987, 645 pneumoconiotics developed progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). The occurrence of PMF was related to the date of compensation and the profusion of small opacities at detection (after controlling for time to follow-up). Two profiles for changes in coal workers' simple pneumoconiosis (CWSP) were observed: the first in the group of subjects with mild pneumoconiosis at compensation, who did not reach category 2 at follow-up and had a low attack rate of PMF; and the second in the group of those compensated for category 1/2 pneumoconiosis or higher, who reached severe CWSP and had a twofold attack rate for PMF at follow-up. The changes observed in the characteristics of pneumoconiosis at first compensation between 1942 and 1987 suggest a lessening of disease severity. PMID:7843074

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate factors related to insomnia in a cohort of people with asthma. Design This secondary analysis utilized cross-sectional data from the Norwegian Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, a population-based health survey (n=50,807). Participants We used self-reported data from 1,342 men and women with a physician-confirmed asthma diagnosis ranging in age from 19.5 to 91 years. Measurements Data on sleep, lifestyle variables (smoking and exercise), anxiety, and depression were included. An insomnia scale and asthma impact scale were constructed using factor analysis. Hierarchical series of multiple regression models were used to investigate direct and mediational relationships between the study variables and insomnia. Results The hierarchical models revealed significant independent contributions of female sex, higher age, not exercising, asthma impact, anxiety, and depression on insomnia (R2=25.2%). Further, these models suggested that the impact of smoking on insomnia was mediated by anxiety, and that the beneficial impact of exercise was mitigated by depression symptoms. Conclusion Smokers with asthma have more insomnia, and this relationship may be mediated by anxiety. Further, people with asthma who experience depression symptoms are less likely to benefit from physical exercise as a method to enhance sleep quality. Our findings would suggest that helping smokers to manage their anxiety and depression through behavioral methods may reduce their insomnia symptoms, and enable them to engage in other health-enhancing pursuits, such as physical exercise. PMID:26855582

The acquisition of 3D point data with the use of both aerial laser scanning (ALS) and matching of aerial stereo images coupled with advances in image processing algorithms in the past years provide opportunities to map land cover types with better precision than before. The present study applies Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) to 3D point cloud data obtained from matching of stereo aerial images together with spectral data to map land cover types of the Nord-Trøndelag county of Norway. The multi-resolution segmentation algorithm of the Definiens eCognition™ software is used to segment the scenes into homogenous objects. The objects are then classified into different land cover types using rules created based on the definitions given for each land cover type by the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute. The quality of the land cover map was evaluated using data collected in the field as part of the Norwegian National Forest Inventory. The results show that the classification has an overall accuracy of about 80% and a kappa index of about 0.65. OBIA is found to be a suitable method for utilizing 3D remote sensing data for land cover mapping in an effort to replace manual delineation methods.

A rare disease afflicts less than 200,000 individuals, according to the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD) of the United States. Over 6,000 rare disorders affect approximately 1 in 10 Americans. Rare genetic bone disorders remain the major causes of disability in US patients. These rare bone disorders also represent a therapeutic challenge for clinicians, due to lack of understanding of underlying mechanisms. This systematic review explored current literature on therapeutic directions for the following rare genetic bone disorders: fibrous dysplasia, Gorham-Stout syndrome, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, melorheostosis, multiple hereditary exostosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, craniometaphyseal dysplasia, achondroplasia, and hypophosphatasia. The disease mechanisms of Gorham-Stout disease, melorheostosis, and multiple hereditary exostosis are not fully elucidated. Inhibitors of the ACVR1/ALK2 pathway may serve as possible therapeutic intervention for FOP. The use of bisphosphonates and IL-6 inhibitors has been explored to be useful in the treatment of fibrous dysplasia, but more research is warranted. Cell therapy, bisphosphonate polytherapy, and human growth hormone may avert the pathology in osteogenesis imperfecta, but further studies are needed. There are still no current effective treatments for these bone disorders; however, significant promising advances in therapeutic modalities were developed that will limit patient suffering and treat their skeletal disabilities. PMID:25530967

Background Previous studies indicate that clinical guidelines using combined risk evaluation for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) may overestimate risk. The aim of this study was to model and discuss implementation of the current (2007) hypertension guidelines in a general Norwegian population. Methods Implementation of the current European Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension was modelled on data from a cross-sectional, representative Norwegian population study (The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study 1995-97), comprising 65,028 adults, aged 20-89, of whom 51,066 (79%) were eligible for modelling. Results Among individuals with blood pressure ≥120/80 mmHg, 93% (74% of the total, adult population) would need regular clinical attention and/or drug treatment, based on their total CVD risk profile. This translates into 296,624 follow-up visits/100,000 adults/year. In the Norwegian healthcare environment, 99 general practitioner (GP) positions would be required in the study region for this task alone. The number of GPs currently serving the adult population in the study area is 87 per 100,000 adults. Conclusion The potential workload associated with the European hypertension guidelines could destabilise the healthcare system in Norway, one of the world's most long- and healthy-living nations, by international comparison. Large-scale, preventive medical enterprises can hardly be regarded as scientifically sound and ethically justifiable, unless issues of practical feasibility, sustainability and social determinants of health are considered. PMID:19878542

Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA molecules expressed as double-stranded (DSS) negatively charged polymer plays a significant role in electronic states of metal/silicon semiconductor structures. Electrical parameters of an Au/DNA/ITO device prepared using self-assembly method was studied by using current-voltage (I-V) characteristic measurements under alpha bombardment at room temperature. The results were analyzed using conventional thermionic emission model, Cheung and Cheung's method and Norde's technique to estimate the barrier height, ideality factor, series resistance and Richardson constant of the Au/DNA/ITO structure. Besides demonstrating a strongly rectifying (diode) characteristic, it was also observed that orderly fluctuations occur in various electrical parameters of the Schottky structure. Increasing alpha radiation effectively influences the series resistance, while the barrier height, ideality factor and interface state density parameters respond linearly. Barrier height determined from I-V measurements were calculated at 0.7284 eV for non-radiated, increasing to about 0.7883 eV in 0.036 Gy showing an increase for all doses. We also demonstrate the hypersensitivity phenomena effect by studying the relationship between the series resistance for the three methods, the ideality factor and low-dose radiation. Based on the results, sensitive alpha particle detectors can be realized using Au/DNA/ITO Schottky junction sensor. PMID:26799703

Detection of nuclear radiation such as alpha particles has become an important field of research in recent history due to nuclear threats and accidents. In this context; deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) acting as an organic semiconducting material could be utilized in a metal/semiconductor Schottky junction for detecting alpha particles. In this work we demonstrate for the first time the effect of alpha irradiation on an Al/DNA/p-Si/Al Schottky diode by investigating its current-voltage characteristics. The diodes were exposed for different periods (0–20 min) of irradiation. Various diode parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height, series resistance, Richardson constant and saturation current were then determined using conventional, Cheung and Cheung’s and Norde methods. Generally, ideality factor or n values were observed to be greater than unity, which indicates the influence of some other current transport mechanism besides thermionic processes. Results indicated ideality factor variation between 9.97 and 9.57 for irradiation times between the ranges 0 to 20 min. Increase in the series resistance with increase in irradiation time was also observed when calculated using conventional and Cheung and Cheung’s methods. These responses demonstrate that changes in the electrical characteristics of the metal-semiconductor-metal diode could be further utilized as sensing elements to detect alpha particles. PMID:26007733

In Italy, like everywhere in the world, the organ shortage for transplantation is a real problem. It is well known that lung donors (LD) are particularly difficult to procure and that management of the organ do not care during the diagnosis of cerebral death represents a difficult challenge. In this context, the salvage of the so-called "marginal donors" may increase the pool of donors, favoring organ retrieval. To increase lung procurement, the intensivist must recognize "marginal donors," optimizing organ selection and function. The aim of our study was to review LD procured in 2008, as identified by the unrestricted criteria, of the Nord Italian Transplant program Center (NITp). Particularly, the age and habits of donors and the presence of a parenchyma contusion were not sufficient per se to exclude donation. We revisited lung ventilation and monitoring modalities during cerebral death before retrieval. In 2008, the application of enlarged criteria for LD enabled us to collect 21 LD, namely 33% of all cerebral deaths, versus 13% in 2007. Seeking to maintain good gas exchange and lung function, we implemented a safe ventilation program avoided high peak pressures, and fluid therapy properly guided by the cardiac index and extravascular lung water index monitoring. Specific actions to improve LD procurement may help cope with the organ-donor shortage. Although our series was small, our results were encouraging; they underline the necessity to continuously review donor criteria and care, allowing good donor/recipient matching. PMID:20534222

An organic-inorganic contact was fabricated by forming a thin film of sunset yellow dye (SY) on a p-Si wafer. The device showed a good rectification property, and the sunset yellow thin film modified the barrier height (Φb) of Al/p-Si contact by influencing the space charge region. The heterojunction had a strong response to the different illumination intensities and showed that it can be suitable for photodiode applications. The I-V measurements of the device were also applied in the temperature range of 100-500 K. It was seen that characteristic parameters of the device were strongly dependent upon temperature. While the value of Φb increased, the ideality factor (n) decreased with the increase in temperature. This variation was attributed to spatial inhomogeneity at the interface. The Norde function was used to determine the temperature-dependent series resistance and Φb values, and there was a good agreement with that of ln I-V data. The values of the Richardson constant (A*) and mean Φb were determined as 29.47 Acm-2 K-2 by means of a modified activation energy plot, matching with a theoretical one, and 1.032 eV, respectively. Therefore, it was stated that the current voltage characteristic with the temperature can be explained by thermionic emission theory with Gaussian distribution of the Φb at the interface.

Introduction Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has systemic repercussions that can lead to peripheral muscle dysfunction. Muscle atrophy reduces aerobic capacity, greatly limiting activities of daily living and quality of life. Pulmonary rehabilitation is the gold standard treatment for these patients, however, patients may not be able to reach sufficient training intensities for benefits to occur. Technologies such as functional electrical stimulation (FES) are currently being adapted and tested to enhance exercise training. We hypothesise that FES coupled with cycling (FES-cycling) will improve maximal uptake of oxygen (VO2) and aerobic capacity more than endurance training with placebo stimulation. Methods A randomised, single-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial will be carried out to evaluate the effects of FES-cycling on VO2 during endurance exercise on a cycle ergometer in patients with COPD. 25 patients with COPD will carry out two 30 min sessions at a constant load; one session with active and one with placebo FES. The primary outcome is oxygen uptake recorded with a metabolic measurement system. Secondary outcomes include ventilation equivalent for oxygen, ventilation equivalent for carbon dioxide, cardiac output, lactate values, perceived dyspnoea and perceived muscle fatigue. Results and conclusions Approval has been granted by our Institutional Review Board (Comité de Protection des Personnes Nord-Ouest 3). The results of the trial will be presented at national and international meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number NCT02594722. PMID:27110364

Background Few studies have explored the association between social context and suicidal ideation using multilevel models. This study examines how suicidal ideation in adolescence is related to school class composition. Methods Data were obtained from the Young-HUNT 3 study (2006–2008), a population study of adolescents attending secondary school in the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag. The final sample included 2923 adolescents distributed among 379 school classes in 13 schools. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate the contribution of various factors at the individual and school class levels. Results The results indicate that 5.3 percent of the variation in suicidal ideation can be attributed to differences between school classes. However, a substantial part of this variation can be explained by an unequal distribution of students at risk as a result of individual factors. After controlling for individual-level variables, the results show a higher probability of suicidal ideation in school classes having higher proportions of girls as well as in those following a vocational education programme. Conclusion Targeting classes that either follow a vocational education programme or have a high proportion of girls can be an effective approach to intervention because such classes may include a greater number of students at risk for having suicidal thoughts compared to classes with a high proportion of boys or classes following a general education programme. PMID:23186517

During the last two decades of excavations, adobe pyramids dating back from the 6th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D have been unearthed in the ancient Ceremonial Centre of Cahuachi near Nasca (Peru) by an Italian-Peruvian mission directed by Giuseppe Orefici. One of the archaeological sectors, called sector A, has been almost excavated and restored. To complete sector A only a terraced mound named "Piramide Sur" needs to be excavated. In order to provide useful information on the presence of buried structures and platforms as well on the geological stratigraphy a multi-scale approach based on the integration of satellite remote sensing with geophysical techniques was employed. Such investigations were carried out by the Italian mission ITACA, funded by the Italian Ministry Affairs and composed of researchers of two institutes of CNR (IMAA and IBAM), which provides a scientific support for archaeological research, since 2007. In particular, the subsurface features were investigated by Geoelectrical prospecting, performed by using a georesistivimeter for tomography which observe the resistivity value along sections. Several tomographies were carried out to investigate the shallow and deep structure of the pyramid both along the main flank at Nord and on the top. Finally, the integration of all data acquired by the different remote sensing techniques allowed for spatially characterizing the archaeological features, thus providing important information for the planning of the next archaeological campaign.

The Paschen curve (PC) predicts the breakdown voltage of a gas by relating it to the product of pressure and gap distance (pd). Recent experiments deviate from the PC for microscale gaps at low pd. A scaling law incorporating field emission-driven breakdown and field enhancement to the macroscale Paschen law yields more accurate predictions for microscale gaps (A. Venkattraman and A. A. Alexeenko, Phys. Plasmas 19, 123515 (2012).). While many studies consider low pd, deviations from the PC also arise at high pd, as demonstrated for gap distances between 0.0508 and 0.254 cm and pressures between 96.5 and 6900 kPa (W. J. Carey, A. J. Wiebe, R. D. Nord, and L. L. Altgilbers, in Proc. IEEE Pulsed Power Conf., 2011, pp. 741-744). High pd values are relevant for ongoing high voltage plasma experiments for food treatment and combustion. We attempt to elucidate the impact of large gap distances (~ 5 cm) and higher pressures (~ 200-300 kPa) on these deviations by connecting recent work at low pd to high pd by assessing scaling laws, analyzing field emission models, and using particle-in-cell codes. Implications on experimental design will be discussed, and the development of a universal Paschen curve will be explored.

The Scotia plate and surrounding areas is a beautiful and complex geodynamic system, which accommodates the large-scale sinistral strike-slip motion between South-America and Antarctica plates. It comprises active and fossil oceanic spreading, arc-shaped orogenic belts at the periphery of the system, crustal strike-slips and transform zones, extensional basins, and subductions. A careful structural analysis of the larger Scotia area based on ETOPO1 dataset, together with a new seismotectonic synthesis including stress inversion (CMT dataset), and finite elements numerical modeling (SHELL code), allow to better characterize the current strain and stress states of this complex system. Comparisons between the actual states of strain and stress provided by focal mechanism inversions in homogeneous sectors, and the states of strain and stress modelized using numerous test-configurations, led us to investigate both the kinematic conditions at the boundaries of the system and the role of rheological parameters. This study provides a new regionalization and quantification of the stress variations in the larger Scotia plate system. It rises up the matter of regional evolution from compressional zones (Ande, Sandwich subduction front), to strike-slip (Nord and South Scotia ridges), and extensional areas (Bransfield basin, Sandwich subduction extrado), and provides new constrains to discuss the related geodynamic processes.

Objectives Estimates of occupation-specific tinnitus prevalence may help identify high-risk occupations where interventions are warranted. The authors studied the effect of occupation on prevalence of bothersome tinnitus and estimated the attributable fraction due to occupation. The authors also studied how much of the effect remained after adjusting for noise exposure, education income, hearing thresholds and other risk factors. Design A prospective cohort study. Setting A health survey of the Nord-Trøndelag county of Norway. Participants A sample of the general adult population (n=49 948). Primary outcome measure The primary outcome measure is bothersome tinnitus. Results Occupation had a marked effect on tinnitus prevalence. The effect of occupation on tinnitus was reduced in men by controlling for self-reported occupational noise exposure and in women by controlling for education and income. Adding hearing loss as a predictor increased the effect of occupation somewhat. In men, age-adjusted prevalence ratios of tinnitus ranged from 1.5 (workshop mechanics) to 2.1 (crane and hoist operators) in the 10 occupations with highest tinnitus prevalence. In women, the most important contribution to the tinnitus prevalence was from the large group of occupationally inactive persons, with a prevalence ratio of 1.5. Conclusion This study found a moderate association between occupation and bothersome tinnitus. PMID:22267709

Processes that control climate-dependent rockfall from permafrost-affected rock slopes are still poorly understood. In this study, we present the results of a Wireless Sensor Network, integrated within the Swiss project PermaSense and developed in 2012, to measure rock temperature and geotechnical parameters in the steep rockwalls of the Aiguille du Midi (AdM, 3842 m a.s.l., Mont Blanc massif, France). Accessible year round by cable car, the AdM comprises two main peaks: (i) the Piton Nord with the cable car arrival station, where 4 crack-meters are placed on four major fractures, and (ii) the Piton Central with many touristic infrastructure, equipped with three 10-m-deep boreholes with 15 temperatures sensors since 2009, and where 2 crack-meters are installed along a major fracture. Three major kinematic regimes are observed: (i) opening of clefts when the rock temperature becomes positive, followed by closing during the cold period, (ii) summer opening continued by a winter opening, and (iii) closing during the warm period followed by opening in winter.

The main purpose of eye-safe laser ceilometers is regular reporting of cloud base height, vertical visibility, and cloud cover. These instruments operate unattended in harsh weather conditions. The application of state-of-the-art electronics increases the quality of backscatter profiles and thus qualifies modern ceilometers for applications beyond cloud base detection. The single lens optics of the ceilometers introduced in this paper results in a compact and robust design and enables their application in campaigns monitoring climate change effects. That is why three of the German Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO) run by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are equipped with a ceilometer. The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) utilizes such an instrument to study arctic cloud formation at Station Nord, Greenland. Recent applications include site assessment for solar energy applications in the Arabic Peninsula and monitoring of Sahara dust cloud and biomass burning plume events over Germany. Backward trajectory calculations with the HYSPLIT trajectory model provided by the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory have been carried out to investigate possible sources, including wood fires in southern France and eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull and Puyehue- Cordón Caulle volcanoes.

This paper reports fabrication and characterization of an Al/CuPc/ n-Si heterojunction diode. The heterojunction was fabricated by depositing the active organic semiconducting material copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on the n-Si substrate using the thermal vacuum evaporation technique. Electrical characterization of the fabricated heterojunction was carried out at ambient conditions. Various diode parameters, such as the ideality factor ( n), barrier height (Φ_{{b}}), and series resistance ( R s), were extracted from the current-voltage ( I- V) characteristic curve. These parameters are consistent with techniques used by Cheung, Norde and Hernandez et al. Furthermore these parameters are consistent with capacitance-voltage (C-V) characterization method. The conduction mechanism at the interface of CuPc and n-Si was also investigated. The surface morphology of the CuPc film was studied using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The optical bandgap of the CuPc film was calculated from the absorption spectrum using Tauc's law.

Surface acoustic waves offer most of the basic functions required for on-chip actuation of fluids at small scales: efficient flow mixing, integrated pumping, particles separation, droplet displacement, atomization, division and fusion. Nevertheless some more advanced functions such as 3D particles manipulation and vorticity control require the introduction of some specific kind of waves called acoustic vortices. These helical waves propagate spinning around a phase singularity called the dark core. On the one hand, the beam angular momentum can be transferred to the fluid and create point-wise vorticity for confined mixing, and on the other the dark core can trap individual particles in an acoustic well for single object manipulation. In this presentation, I will show how acoustical vortices on-a-chip can be synthesized with a programmable electronics and an array of transducers. I will then highlight how some of their specificities can be used for acoustical tweezing and twisting. This work is supported by ANR Project No. ANR-12-BS09-0021-01 and ANR-12- BS09-0021-02, and Rgion Nord Pas de Calais.

Classical swine fever is a viral disease of pigs that carries tremendous socio-economic impact. In outbreak situations, genetic typing is carried out for the purpose of molecular epidemiology in both domestic pigs and wild boar. These analyses are usually based on harmonized partial sequences. However, for high-resolution analyses towards the understanding of genetic variability and virus evolution, full-genome sequences are more appropriate. In this study, a unique set of representative virus strains was investigated that was collected during an outbreak in French free-ranging wild boar in the Vosges-du-Nord mountains between 2003 and 2007. Comparative sequence and evolutionary analyses of the nearly full-length sequences showed only slow evolution of classical swine fever virus strains over the years and no impact of vaccination on mutation rates. However, substitution rates varied amongst protein genes; furthermore, a spatial and temporal pattern could be observed whereby two separate clusters were formed that coincided with physical barriers. PMID:26684209

Detection of nuclear radiation such as alpha particles has become an important field of research in recent history due to nuclear threats and accidents. In this context; deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) acting as an organic semiconducting material could be utilized in a metal/semiconductor Schottky junction for detecting alpha particles. In this work we demonstrate for the first time the effect of alpha irradiation on an Al/DNA/p-Si/Al Schottky diode by investigating its current-voltage characteristics. The diodes were exposed for different periods (0-20 min) of irradiation. Various diode parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height, series resistance, Richardson constant and saturation current were then determined using conventional, Cheung and Cheung's and Norde methods. Generally, ideality factor or n values were observed to be greater than unity, which indicates the influence of some other current transport mechanism besides thermionic processes. Results indicated ideality factor variation between 9.97 and 9.57 for irradiation times between the ranges 0 to 20 min. Increase in the series resistance with increase in irradiation time was also observed when calculated using conventional and Cheung and Cheung's methods. These responses demonstrate that changes in the electrical characteristics of the metal-semiconductor-metal diode could be further utilized as sensing elements to detect alpha particles. PMID:26007733

One of the most lonely and desolate stretches of coastline on the planet has become the target for UNCLOS article 76 related research. The Danish Continental Shelf Project has launched a work program to investigate the possibilities for Greenland to claim an area outside the 200 nm limit in the Arctic Ocean. The role of the Lomonosov Ridge as a Natural Prolongation of Greenland/Canada is an important issue, and in order to better evaluate the connection between Greenland and the Lomonosov Ridge the nature of not only the ridge but also of Northern Greenland is the target of deep crustal investigations. The North Greenland Fold belt covers the ice-free part of North Greenland and continues west in the Canadian Arctic. The foldbelt was formed during the Ellesmerian orogeny, where sediments from the Franklinian Basin where compressed and deformed. The deep structure of basin and its subsequent closure are broadly unknown. Three broad band earthquake seismological stations where installed in North Greenland to supplement the existing stations at Alert (Canada) and Station Nord to the east, and the first data was available summer 2005. Crustal thickness data from these first results are presented. Plans for the spring 2006 consist of wide-angle acquisition on the sea ice from the Greenland-Canadian mainland out onto the Lomonosov Ridge, a joint Danish - Canadian project with a 400 km long profile over difficult ice conditions, 18 tons of explosives, three helicopters, a Twin Otter and about 30 participants.

Blood composition is commonly measured to assess exposure to and effects of metals on birds. In most of passerine species, only small volumes of blood may be sampled safely (<500 μL), which limit the measure of several markers of health status and chemical residues. Here, we documented the partitioning of Cd and Pb in the blood of European Blackbirds Turdus merula in order to propose usable relationships between whole blood concentrations (for which toxicological benchmarks exist) and those measured in the erythrocytes. Sixty-two blackbirds were trapped along a pollution gradient (smelter of Metaleurop Nord, Northern France). Blood was sampled and Cd and Pb concentrations were measured both in whole blood and in the erythrocytes only. Birds coming from the most contaminated sites exhibited high residues for both Cd and Pb. We assessed that 73% and 99% of Cd and Pb, respectively, were associated to erythrocytes. Strong linear relationships, that were not influenced by neither the age nor the sex, were established between whole blood residues and those of erythrocytes for Cd and Pb (adj-R(2)=0.78 and 0.93, respectively). Present findings are promising to optimize the use of small blood samples in order to investigate several responses relative to wildlife health status. PMID:22401744

There is a special emphasis today on integrating traditional healing within health services. However, most areas in which there is a system of traditional healing have undergone colonization and a number of pressures suppressing tradition for hundreds of years. The question arises as to how one can understand today’s tradition in light of earlier traditions. This article is based on material collected in Sámi areas of Finnmark and Nord-Troms Norway; it compares local healing traditions with what is known of earlier shamanic traditions in the area. The study is based on 27 interviews among healers and their patients. The findings suggest that although local healing traditions among the Sámi in northern Norway have undergone major transformations during the last several hundred years, they may be considered an extension of a long-standing tradition with deep roots in the region. Of special interest are also the new forms tradition may take in today’s changing global society. PMID:20862528

The presentation discusses (on the basis of an actual application in the development of a curriculum for Integrated Water Cycle Management in Kazakhstan; TEMPUS I-WEB project) the diverse scientific approaches to explain the degradation of hydrological resources in West-Siberia and Nord-Kazakhstan by focussing on natural and anthropogenic causes by the example of the dry out of small lakes. Since Pleistocene in the region a diverse mosaic of large and small lakes of at total shrinking surface area was formed. On natural causes it includes (1) climatic cycling, (2) lake developments since the Pleistocene originate by the Northern glaciations by ice dammed lakes (without tectonics). The man made causes are (1) the sediment accumulation in lakes, (2) the (problematic) water management and water usage and (3) the land use changes in the watersheds. Climate change includes finally both natural and climatic causes of the change. The latter is explained using actual reports of (1) IPCC on extreme events and (2) gives a note about radiative forcing components as proxy to integrate.

Objectives. We sought to provide data-based estimates of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and describe risk factors for such violence. Methods. We used nationally representative household survey data from 3436 women selected to answer the domestic violence module who took part in the 2007 DRC Demographic and Health Survey along with population estimates to estimate levels of sexual violence. We used multivariate logistic regression to analyze correlates of sexual violence. Results. Approximately 1.69 to 1.80 million women reported having been raped in their lifetime (with 407 397–433 785 women reporting having been raped in the preceding 12 months), and approximately 3.07 to 3.37 million women reported experiencing intimate partner sexual violence. Reports of sexual violence were largely independent of individual-level background factors. However, compared with women in Kinshasa, women in Nord-Kivu were significantly more likely to report all types of sexual violence. Conclusions. Not only is sexual violence more generalized than previously thought, but our findings suggest that future policies and programs should focus on abuse within families and eliminate the acceptance of and impunity surrounding sexual violence nationwide while also maintaining and enhancing efforts to stop militias from perpetrating rape. PMID:21566049

Background The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene contains a functional polymorphism, Val158Met which has been related to common diseases like cancer, psychiatric illness and myocardial infarction. Whether the Val158Met polymorphism is associated with survival has not been evaluated in the general population. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the impact of codon 158 COMT gene polymorphism on survival in a population-based cohort. Methods The sample comprised 2979 non-diabetic individuals who participated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in the period 1995–97. The subjects were followed up with respect to mortality throughout year 2004. Results 212 men and 183 women died during the follow up. No association between codon 158 COMT gene polymorphism and survival was found. The unadjusted relative risk of death by non-ischemic heart diseases with Met/Met or Met/Val genotypes was 3.27 (95% confidence interval, 1.19–9.00) compared to Val/Val genotype. When we adjusted for age, gender, smoking, coffee intake and body mass index the relative risk decreased to 2.89 (95% confidence interval, 1.04–8.00). Conclusion During 10 year of follow-up, the Val158Met polymorphism had no impact on survival in a general population. Difference in mortality rates from non-ischemic heart diseases may be incidental and should be evaluated in other studies. PMID:17577421

Perchlorate ions (ClO4(-)) are present in groundwater and are then present in distribution networks of drinking water destined for human consumption. The perchlorate ion comes mainly from ammonium salt manufactured for industrial activities or from arms of the First World War. Perchlorate ion is a competitive inhibitor of the sodium-iodide symporter and inhibits the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Values of toxicity have been published by the French agency ANSES and are used by authorities to limit the consumption of drinking water of some distribution networks by children and pregnant women especially in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie. Epidemiological data in other countries show no or little clinical effect in areas with similar contamination; it is therefore a precautionary principle. An effective substitution with iodine would limit the effects of the iodine deficiency itself but also would counteract the potential effects of an excess of perchlorate ions and also of other symporter inhibitors (thiocyanate, nitrate). Further studies are nevertheless needed to determine possible extra-thyroid effects of perchlorate ions. PMID:26585272

The forests in northwest Republic of Congo contain a number of herbaceous swamp clearings that provide foraging sites for lowland gorillas (G.g. gorilla). A 10-month study at the Maya Nord clearing (Parc National d'Odzala) showed that feeding activities occupied 72% of the time visiting gorillas spent on the clearing. They fed on four plant species: Enydra fluctuans (Asteraceae), Cyperus sp., Pycreus mundtii, and Rhynchospora corymbosa (Cyperaceae) among the 45 species recorded on the clearing. These clearing food species have higher mineral contents (especially Na and Ca) than the dominant Marantaceae species (Haumania liebrechtsiana) that constituted a staple food plant for gorillas in this forest. They also have higher potassium contents and contain less lignin than non-eaten clearing items/species. Finally, the most actively searched for clearing food (Enydra fluctuans) was characterized by the highest amount of Na and Ca. These results suggest that the mineral content (especially in Na, Ca, and/or K) could determine the feeding selectivity of gorillas at the clearing. They also tend to confirm that the amount of fiber plays a deterrent role in food selectivity, as has been found by many authors. The high density of gorillas in that region could result from the combination of the large areas of Marantaceae forests that provide abundant though monotonous food, and the number of clearings that provide sufficient mineral supplies. Clearings should thus be considered as key habitats for the conservation of gorillas. PMID:12111682

The management of dredged sediments is of environmental concern worldwide since they may be overloaded with myriads of pollutants. For inland waters' sediments, disposal on land is a common practice. For the long-term risks assessment of such a management, a better understanding of the fate of pollutants over time and an assessment of possible associated biological consequences are needed. Here, we studied the geochemical distribution of Fe, Mn, Zn and Cd in sediment dredged from the Scarpe canal (Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, France). Analyses were carried out immediately after dredging and 12, 18 and 24 months after disposal in field conditions. In parallel, ecotoxicity of sediment leachates was assessed using standardized bioassays. The results reflected an initial oxidation of sulphides (first year) followed by changes explained by a reversible binding of metals to organic matter in winter and to Fe oxihydroxides in summer. The water-leachable fraction represented less than 2% of the total metal and its ecotoxicity was higher for deposited sediments than for the fresh one. After first year of disposal, sediment ecotoxicity remained stable. A long-term natural attenuation of metals within disposed sediment seemed unlikely since their speciation seemed to fluctuate seasonally without any time trend over years. PMID:19464680

Results of psychological "additional investigation" of the crash of Boeing-737, "Aeroflot-Nord" on 14.09.2008 near Perm are presented. 37 pilots from the one of the leading airline companies sensed the attitude and rolling out the aircraft to the forward flight under the moving horizon with straight display of bank and tangage (view from the aircraft to the ground) in model conditions. 29 pilots (78.4%) made a mistake at determining the roll direction and tangage, they made a mistake at determining the roll direction 61 times (16.4%) and 44 times at determining the tangage direction, in other words they confused left and right bank and also nose-up and nose-down. Visual illusions of mobility of space and handling of ground (instead of aircraft) during the flight were revealed in pilots. These illusions may be the important cause of the following crashes. The necessity of "back" faultless display of bank in all aircrafts of civil aviation and development of computer complex for training of visual spatial orientation is proved. PMID:23156114

The impact of chronic musculoskeletal complaints (CMSC) and chronic widespread chronic musculoskeletal complaints (CWMSC) on mortality is controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between these conditions and mortality. In this prospective population-based cohort study from Norway, baseline data from the second Nord-Trøndelag Health Survey (HUNT2, performed 1995-1997) were linked to the comprehensive National Cause of Death Registry in Norway with follow-up through the year 2011. A total of 65,026 individuals (70%) participated and were categorized based on their response to CMSC questions in HUNT2 (no CMSC, CMSC, or CWMSC). Hazard ratios (HRs) of mortality during a mean of 14.1 years of follow-up were estimated using Cox regression. During the follow-up period, 12,521 subjects died, 5162 from cardiovascular diseases, 3478 from cancer, and 3881 from all other causes. In the multivariate-adjusted analyses, there was no difference in all-cause mortality between individuals with or without CMSC (HR 1.01, confidence interval, 0.97-1.05) and CWMSC (HR 1.01, confidence interval, 0.96-1.05). Similarly, there was no association between CMSC or CWMSC and cardiovascular mortality, mortality from cancer, or mortality from all other causes. Therefore, from this study, we conclude that there is no evidence for a higher mortality rate among individuals with CMSC or CWMSC. PMID:26919487

Hydrological forecasting consists in the assessment of future streamflow. Current deterministic forecasts do not give any information concerning the uncertainty, which might be limiting in a decision-making process. Ensemble forecasts are expected to fill this gap. In July 2007, the Meteorological Service of Canada has improved its ensemble prediction system, which has been operational since 1998. It uses the GEM model to generate a 20-member ensemble on a 100 km grid, at mid-latitudes. This improved system is used for the first time for hydrological ensemble predictions. Five watersheds in Quebec (Canada) are studied: Chaudière, Châteauguay, Du Nord, Kénogami and Du Lièvre. An interesting 17-day rainfall event has been selected in October 2007. Forecasts are produced in a 3 h time step for a 3-day forecast horizon. The deterministic forecast is also available and it is compared with the ensemble ones. In order to correct the bias of the ensemble, an updating procedure has been applied to the output data. Results showed that ensemble forecasts are more skilful than the deterministic ones, as measured by the Continuous Ranked Probability Score (CRPS), especially for 72 h forecasts. However, the hydrological ensemble forecasts are under dispersed: a situation that improves with the increasing length of the prediction horizons. We conjecture that this is due in part to the fact that uncertainty in the initial conditions of the hydrological model is not taken into account.

Hydrological forecasting consists in the assessment of future streamflow. Current deterministic forecasts do not give any information concerning the uncertainty, which might be limiting in a decision-making process. Ensemble forecasts are expected to fill this gap. In July 2007, the Meteorological Service of Canada has improved its ensemble prediction system, which has been operational since 1998. It uses the GEM model to generate a 20-member ensemble on a 100 km grid, at mid-latitudes. This improved system is used for the first time for hydrological ensemble predictions. Five watersheds in Quebec (Canada) are studied: Chaudière, Châteauguay, Du Nord, Kénogami and Du Lièvre. An interesting 17-day rainfall event has been selected in October 2007. Forecasts are produced in a 3 h time step for a 3-day forecast horizon. The deterministic forecast is also available and it is compared with the ensemble ones. In order to correct the bias of the ensemble, an updating procedure has been applied to the output data. Results showed that ensemble forecasts are more skilful than the deterministic ones, as measured by the Continuous Ranked Probability Score (CRPS), especially for 72 h forecasts. However, the hydrological ensemble forecasts are under dispersed: a situation that improves with the increasing length of the prediction horizons. We conjecture that this is due in part to the fact that uncertainty in the initial conditions of the hydrological model is not taken into account.

The effects of annealing temperature on the electrical, structural and surface morphological properties of Ru/Ti/n-InP Schottky diode have been investigated. Calculations showed that the Schottky barrier height (SBH) and ideality factor n of the as-deposited Ru/Ti/n-InP Schottky diode are 0.82 eV (I-V)/1.00 eV (C-V) and 1.19, respectively. However, it is observed that the SBH of Ru/Ti/n-InP Schottky diode decreases upon annealing at 200 °C, 300 °C and 400 °C. Cheung's and Norde method are also employed to calculate the SBH, ideality factor and series resistance of the Ru/Ti/n-InP Schottky diode as a function of annealing temperature. Experimental results reveal that the SBH and series resistance of the Ru/Ti/n-InP Schottky diode decreases upon annealing temperatures. The energy distribution of interface state density (Nss) is determined for the Ru/Ti/n-InP Schottky diode at different annealing temperatures. The X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the formation of phosphide phases at the Ru/Ti/n-InP interface may be the cause for the decrease of SBH upon annealing temperature. The AFM results indicated that there is no significant degradation in the surface morphology of the Ru/Ti Schottky contacts at elevated annealing temperatures.

Observational studies support a neuroprotective role of hormone therapy (HT) in the perimenopause, with hippocampal size being a widely used biomarker. We investigated the effect of HT started before the onset of menopause and lasting for at least 3 years on hippocampal volume and shape in 80 postmenopausal women and 80 controls matched on age and intracranial volume taken from a large community-based sample (Nord-Trøndelag Health Study-magnetic resonance imaging). The main effect of hormone group showed a statistically significant difference in hippocampal volumes (p = 0.028). Both the right (3.2%) and left (2.8%) hippocampal volumes were larger in the HT group but only significant for the right hippocampus (p = 0.023). Shape analysis revealed significant regional sparing of the medial aspect of the right hippocampal head and lateral aspect of the body extending to the tail, corresponding to the cornu ammonis, including part of the subiculum, in the HT group. A similar nonsignificant pattern was observed in the left hippocampus. The present study provides support for the critical window theory demonstrating that HT initiated in the perimenopause has neuroprotective properties. PMID:26130062

Based on 13,694 mother-child dyads from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Kindergarten Study (ECLS-K; Rock & Pollack, 2002; Tourangeau, Nord, Lê, Sorongon, & Najarian, 2009), this study is an examination of the bidirectional relations between parental and child functioning from kindergarten through 3rd grade. Results from the cross-lagged models demonstrated that child-driven effects co-occurred with parental effects, and that these effects were comparable in size. At the same time, however, results from the latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed idiosyncratic patterns of parent and child functioning. Compared with children in the least optimal functioning profiles, those in the average and above-average profiles elicited greater improvement in parents' functioning over time. Although children characterized by poor academic performance at kindergarten appeared to precede parents characterized by harsh parenting at 3rd grade, there was a threshold in the evolving strength of the overall child-driven effects. Taken together, the results from this study underscore the importance of considering reciprocal processes in the parent-child dynamic while also underscoring individual differences in these processes across the early- to middle-childhood years. PMID:26866838

Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) were used to examine the complex links between the five characteristics of flow (magnitude, duration, timing, frequency, and variation), defined as part of the "natural flow regime" ecological paradigm, for spring heavy flood, and five climate indices (Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), Arctic Oscillation (AO), Nord Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)) in southern Québec, over the period from 1934 to 2004. The two methods yield similar results. AMO and NAO appear to be the main index correlated with the following four flow characteristics: duration, timing, frequency and coefficient of variation. Thus, positive AMO and NAO anomalies are associated with delayed timing, higher frequency, relatively long duration and relatively weak variability of spring heavy floods in Québec. This relationship reflects sustained climate conditions characterized by low temperature in winter and early spring in eastern Canada during negative phases of AMO and positives phases NAO. No link was noted between climate indices and the magnitude of spring heavy floods in Québec.

In the apron of three active lignite opencast pits in Lower Lusatia (Brandenburg, Germany), archaeological survey trenches were investigated in areas where Quaternary aeolian sand deposits are widespread. The investigated palaeoenvironmental archives in Jänschwalde, Cottbus-Nord and Welzow contain evidence of fluvial and aeolian morphodynamics, soil formation and agricultural land use from (pre-)historic to modern times. To study the age and the causes of sand drifting and landform stabilization, standard soil physical and chemical laboratory analyses as well as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating (14C) were carried out. Two main sedimentological units were identified: Unit 1 consists of glacio-fluvial and Late Weichselian aeolian sands representing the parent material for the native Podsol-Braunerde and Podsol development, while Unit 2 represents the Late Holocene aeolian deposits. Four periods of Late glacial and Holocene aeolian activity and three phases of geomorphological stability have been identified: (i) Aeolian sedimentation during the Late glacial, (ii) Mesolithic reactivation of aeolian processes, (iii) soil formation until Late Roman Iron Age settlers intensified the agricultural land use, (iv) intensive drift sand formation during the High Middle Ages due to agricultural expansion, (v) stabilization of the drift sands and weak soil formation, (vi) reactivation of aeolian processes due to the increasing wood consumption and charcoal production from the early 16th until the mid-19th century, (vii) surface stabilization and formation of Regosols since the mid-19th century due to afforestation.

Highly metal contaminated soils found in the North of France are the result of intense industrial past. These soils are now unfit for the cultivation of agricultural products for human consumption. Solutions have to be found to improve the quality of these soils, and especially to reduce the availability of trace elements (TEs). Phytostabilisation and ash-aided phytostabilisation applied since 2000 to an experimental site located near a former metallurgical site (Metaleurop-Nord) was shown previously as efficacious in reducing TEs mobility in soils. The aim of the study was to check whether this ten years trial had influenced earthworm communities. This experimental site was compared to plots located in the surroundings and differing by the use of soils. Main results are that: (1) whatever the use of soils, earthworm communities are composed of few species with moderate abundance in comparison with communities found in similar habitats outside the TEs-contaminated area, (2) the highest abundance and specific richness (4-5 species) were observed in afforested plots with various tree species, (3) ash amendments in afforested plots did not increase the species richness and modified the communities favoring anecic worms but disfavoring epigeic ones. These findings raised the questions of when and how to perform the addition of ashes firstly, to avoid negative effects on soil fauna and secondly, to keep positive effects on metal immobilization. PMID:25499051

Nord-Italian region South Tyrol is Europe's largest apple growing area. In order to enable an economically relevant fruit quality and quantity the relative dry climate of the region 450-700mm gets compensated by a large scale irrigation management which until now follows old, traditional rights. Due to ongoing climatic changes and rising public sensitivity toward sustainable usage of water resources, irrigation practices are more and more critically discussed. In order to establish an objective and quantitative base of information to optimise irrigation practice, 17 existing microclimatic stations were upgraded with soil moisture and soil water potential sensors. As a second information layer a data set of 20,000 soil analyses has been geo-referenced and spatialized using a modern geostatistical method. Finally, to assess whether the zones with shallow aquifer influence soil water availability, data of 70 groundwater depth measuring stations were retrieved. The preliminary results highlight that in many locations in particular in the valley bottoms irrigation largely exceeds plant water needs because either the shallow aquifer provides sufficient water supply by capillary rise processes into the root zone or irrigation is applied without accounting for the specific soil properties.

In this study, a device applications of organic material Fast Green FCF (C37H34N2Na2O10S3Na2) has been investigated. After chemical cleaning process of boron doped H-Si crystals, Al metal was coated on the one surface of crystals by thermal evaporation and fast green organic materials were coated on other surface of crystals with spin coating method (coating parameters; 800 rpm for 60 s). Finally, Ni metal was coated on Fast Green by sputtering and we obtained the Ni/Fast Green FCF/n-Si/Al Schottky type diode. And then we calculated the basic diode parameters of device with current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance- voltage (C-V) measurements at the room temperature. We calculated the ideality factory (n), barrier height (Φb) of rectifing contact from I-V measurements using thermionic emission methods. Furthermore, we calculated ideality factory (n), barrier height (Φb) and series resistance (Rs) of device using Cheung and Norde functions too. The diffusion potential, barrier height, Fermi energy level and donor concentration have been determined from the linear 1/C2-V curves at reverse bias, at room temperature and various frequencies. Besides we measured the current-voltage (I-V) at under light and analyzed the characteristics of the solar cell device.

Au/Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST)/n-InP metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS) Schottky diodes have been analyzed by current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The surface morphology of the BST films on InP is fairly smooth. The Au/BST/n-InP MIS Schottky diode shows better rectification ratio and low leakage current compared to the conventional Au/n-InP metal-semiconductor (MS) Schottky diode. Higher barrier height is achieved for the MIS Schottky diode compared to the MS Schottky diode. The Norde and Cheung's methods are employed to determine the barrier height, ideality factor and series resistance. The interface state density (NSS) is determined from the forward bias I-V data for both the MS and MIS Schottky diodes. Results reveal that the NSS of the MIS Schottky diode is lower than that of the MS Schottky diode. The Poole-Frenkel emission is found dominating the reverse current in both Au/n-InP MS and Au/BST/n-InP MIS Schottky diodes, indicating the presence of structural defects and trap levels in the dielectric film.

In this study, 6-(5-bromothiohen-2-yl)-2,3-dihydro-1-methyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-1H-pyrazolo[4,3-b]pyridine-5-carbonitrile (BDPC) powder was synthesized. BDPC powder showed a polycrystalline structure, whereas the thermally evaporated films had an amorphous structure. The optical parameters such as absorption coefficient and refractive index were calculated in the spectral range 200-500 nm. Spectral distribution analysis of the absorption coefficient revealed that the films had an indirect band transitions with energy gaps of 2.57 eV and 3.5 eV. According to the single oscillator model, the oscillation energy, dispersion energy, and dielectric constant were estimated. The room-temperature current-voltage characteristics of the fabricated Au/BDPC/p-Si/Al heterojunction showed diode-like behavior. The ideality factor, the barrier height and series resistance were determined based on thermionic emission theory and Norde's function. At reverse bias, the current was interpreted in terms of the Schottky and pool-Frenkle effects in low and high voltages, respectively. The built-in voltage, carrier concentration and barrier height were obtained using capacitance-voltage characteristics.

In this work, pyrrole-aniline copolymer/p-Si structure has been fabricated by forming a thin organic copolymer film on a p-Si wafer. A good rectifying behavior was seen from the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. The characteristic parameters of the structure such as barrier height, ideality factor, interface states density and series resistance were determined from the electrical measurements using I-V, Cheung's, and modified Norde's function. The calculated barrier height values from different methods have shown the consistency of the approaches. The obtained ideality factor which is greater than unity refers to the deviation from ideal diode characteristics. This deviation can be attributed to secondary mechanisms, which include interface dipoles due to interface doping or specific interface structure, as well as fabrication-induced defects at the interface. The energy distribution of interface-state density of the copolymer-based structure was determined, and the interface-state density was found to vary from 1.27 × 1016 cm-2 eV-1 in (0.07 - Ev) eV to 2.45 × 1015 cm-2 eV-1 in (0.52 - Ev) eV. Furthermore, these copolymers were characterized with UV-vis, FTIR techniques, and thermal analysis.

The current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of Ni/Cu/n-InP Schottky barrier diodes are studied over a wide temperature range, from 210 K to 420 K. The I-V characteristics display anomalous thermal behavior. The apparent barrier height decays, and the ideality factor grows at low temperatures, and the series resistances resulting from Cheung's and Norde's procedures are markedly temperature dependent. The nonlinearity of the Richardson plot and the strong temperature dependence of the Schottky-barrier parameters indicate that the interface is spatially inhomogeneous. Plots of the zero-bias barrier height as a function of 1/(2kT) points to a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights with 0.90 eV mean height and 0.014 eV standard deviation. When this distribution is accounted for, a Richardson of 6.5 A/(cm K)2 results, relatively close to the 9.4/(cm K)2 predicted by theory. We conclude that, combined with a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights, the thermionic-emission mechanism explains the temperature-dependent I-V and C-V characteristics of the studied Schottky-barrier diodes.

The European Noise Directive 2002/49/EC requires to draw up noise action plans. Most of the implemented solutions consist in using barriers, even if some studies evidenced that annoyance could increase after their installation. This action dumps the high frequencies, decreasing the masking effect on low ones. Therefore, people annoyance and complaints may increase despite the mitigation. This can happen even in pedestrian zones near main roads due to the screening effect of first buildings row. In this paper, the authors analyze the post-operam screening effects in terms of low frequency noise. The difference between C- and A-weighted levels is calculated as annoyance indicator (LC-A). Different methods able to map noise with octave bands detail are tested in order to establish differences in the estimates of annoyance exposure. In particular, a comparison is carried out between data from interim method NMPB 96, its updated version 2008, NORD 2000 and those provided by a customized procedure through ISO 9613 propagation and Statistical Pass By measurements. Test sites are simulated in order to validate each model results through measurements. Results are discussed for real locations in Pisa city center and virtual scenarios in a rising scale of complexity. PMID:25461069

In this paper we carried out an immunohistochemical study of protein p27KIP1 expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal carcinoma that were diagnosticated, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology at "Virgen de la Salud" Hospital (Toledo, Spain). In the cases with lymph node metastasis we also studied p27KIP1 expression at this level. Furthermore we have analysed the value of protein p27KIP1 expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due to cancer and survival) and we evaluate the relationship between p27KIP1 expression and other clinic and pathologic parameters. PMID:16566195

In this paper we carried out an immunohistochemical study of protein p21WAF1 (EA10) expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal carcinoma that were diagnosticated, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology at "Virgen de la Salud" Hospital (Toledo, Spain). In the cases with lymph node metastasis we also studied p21WAF1 expression at this level. Furthermore we have analysed the value of protein p21WAF1 expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due to cancer and survival) and we evaluate the relationship between p21WAF1 expression and other clinic and pathologic parameters. PMID:15803916

In this paper we carried out an immunohistochemical study of protein Rb (G3-245) expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal carcinoma that were diagnosticated, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology at "Virgen de la Salud" Hospital (Toledo, Spain) for a time of 5 years. In the cases with lymph node metastasis we also studied Rb expression at this level. Furthermore we have analysed the value of Rb expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due to cancer and survival) and we evaluate the relationship between Rb expression and other clinic and pathologic parameters. PMID:15929589

In this paper we carried out an immunohistochemical study of cyclin D1 (DCS6 ) expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal carcinoma that were diagnosticated, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology at "Virgen de la Salud" Hospital (Toledo, Spain) for a time of 5 years. In the cases with lymph node metastasis we also studied cyclin D1 expression at this level. Furthermore we have analysed the value of cyclin D1 expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due to cancer and survival) and we evaluate the relationship between cyclin D1 expression and other clinic and pathologic parameters. PMID:16881553

We carried out an immunohistochemical study of p53 (DO7) expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology Virgen de la Salud Hospital (Toledo, Spain). In the cases with lymph node metastasis we also studied p53 expression at this site. We have investigated the value of p53 expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due tu cancer and survival) and we have evaluated the relationship between p53 expression and other clinicopathologic characteristics. PMID:15663083

In this paper we carried out an immunohistochemical study of bcl-2 protein expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal carcinoma that were diagnosticated, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology at "Virgen de la Salud" Hospital (Toledo, Spain). In the cases with lymphonode metastasis we also analysed bcl-2 protein expression at this level. Furthermore we have studied the value of bcl-2 protein expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due to cancer and survival) and we analysed the relationship between bcl-2 protein expression and other clinic and pathologic parameters. PMID:15803918

In this paper we carried out an immunohistochemical study of Mdm-2 (IF2) expression in a series of 195 patients with laryngeal carcinoma that were diagnosticated, treated and followed at the Department of Otolaryngology at Virgen de la Salud Hospital (Toledo, Spain). In the cases with lymph node metastasis we also studied Mdm-2 expression at this level. We also wanted to investigate the value of Mdm-2 expression as a prognostic factor (tumor recurrence, deads due to cancer and survival) and we have evaluated the relationship between Mdm-2 expression and other clinic and pathologic characteristics. PMID:15663089

Depression symptoms and overweight/obesity are common concerns during childbearing. Both conditions are associated with poor outcomes at birth and can have long-lasting consequences. Predictors of depressive symptoms among overweight and obese low-income and ethnically diverse women are not known. Data are from the Madres para la Salud trial with 139 postpartum Latinas. Depressive symptoms during a prior pregnancy were positively related while social support and moderate intensity physical activity were negatively related to depressive symptoms after birth. Social support and physical activity may be effective interventions, particularly for women who have experienced depressive symptoms in a prior pregnancy. PMID:25383619

Internet has become a priceless source for finding health information for both patients and healthcare professionals. However, the universality and the abundance of information can lead to unfounded conclusions about health issues that can confuse further than clarify the health information. This aspect causes intoxication of information: infoxication. The question lies in knowing how to filter the information that is useful, accurate and relevant for our purposes. In this regard, integrative portals, such as the Biblioteca Virtual de Salud, compile information at different levels (international, national and regional), different types of resources (databases, repositories, bibliographic sources, etc.), becoming a starting point for obtaining quality information. PMID:22575791

Women's groups met in Managua, Nicaragua on International Women's Day to discuss new reproductive technologies and population policies, with an emphasis on reproductive rights. This event postponed introduction of Norplant by the Minister of Health (MINSA), fulfilling the prediction of Carme Clavel of Servicios Integrales para la Mujer, one of the event's organizers, who stated that MINSA would be unable to introduce Norplant quietly. Three days later, Carlos Jarquin, director of Salud Integral at MINSA, denied the alleged approval. However, this was disputed by Maria Hamlin, director of the Centro de Informacion y Servicios de Asesoria en la Salud (CISAS) and one of the event's organizers, who said the procedure had been under consideration for testing since the year before with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Population Council. Ana Maria Pizarro, director of Si Mujer, suggested that tests focused on overcoming resistance and acceptance of irregularities in menstrual bleeding. It was suggested at the meeting that Norplant should be studied at alternative women's centers with their full participation and from the user's perspective. Ana Maria Pizarro insisted that the wishes and needs of the user be met. Ana Quiros from CISAS stated that women must have control of the method used. Maria Hamlin was optimistic about future cooperation among the groups and their impact on Nicaraguan population and health policies. PMID:12318717

Sexual violence is a public health problem in Puerto Rico (PR), with an incidence of 7.4 cases for every 10,000 people during 2005-2006 (Departamento de Salud Secretaría Auxiliar de Salud Familiar y Servicios Integrados, 2007). Findings from the literature review indicated that the traditional model of care provided to the victims of sexual violence in the Emergency Department is incomplete; furthermore, it may cause revictimization because of the attitudes, behaviors, and practices of the community service providers, resulting in additional trauma. Emerging evidence demonstrates that Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs are providing effective quality care. In PR, SANEs do not intervene in sexual assault cases; nevertheless, the Department of Health of PR has recognized the importance of SANE intervention. Consequently, there is a need for current evidence-based protocols and standards of care to describe the procedures, roles, and responsibilities for the provision of quality care to victims. This project involves the implementation of the Stufflebeam's Context-Input-Process-Product Model in the creation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico National Protocol for the Management of Victims of Sexual Violence: Adults/Adolescents. PMID:24158134

The scope of this paper was to identify the role of gender for women as workers, through the perception and discourse of health service providers at the 'Health Centers for Indigenous Women' ("Casas de Salud de las Mujeres Indígenas") in Ometepec, Guerrero and Matías Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico. It is a qualitative study, based on a secondary analysis of the interviews conducted as part of the "Rescatando la experiencia de la Casa de la Mujer Indígena: sistematización y evaluación del proceso" project. A strong sense of the value of work and a strong commitment towards the community were identified. Guilt appears as the result of tension between work outside the home and the responsibilities as mothers and wives. The possibility of helping other women is a source of gratification that dissipates these conflicts; prestige and recognition are added to the benefits of their role. The labor experience of female workers in the "Casas de Salud de las Mujeres Indígenas" of Matías Romero, Oaxaca and Ometepec, Guerrero, described in this paper, reveals that it has very specific characteristics, which are difficult to replicate in other regions of the country. In future studies it is necessary to consider the different contexts of vulnerability. PMID:22450415

The results of the research projects that have been approved and funded by the Instituto Nacional de Salud (Peru) during the period 2004-2008 were analyzed. Out of 182 approved and funded research projects, 150 (82%) were actually performed, 86% (129/150) ended in the final report and only 14% (18/129) were published in indexed journals, the mean time for publication of an article was of 2,7 years. Out of the presented research projects, 68 (45%) were through a competitive fund, 60 (40%) were institutional, 14 (9%) coming from regional (provincial) health directions and 8 (5%) collaborative. The executed budget was of $ 5,032,906.62. The mean amount assigned to each research project was $ 33,552.71 and the cost of each publication was $ 279,605.92; the distribution of the budget according to each study subject was 61% for communicable diseases, 12% for non-communicable diseases and 27% for technological development. The research promotion, development and financing in the Instituto Nacional de Salud during this period have had a decreasing trend, influenced by institutional policy. In order to overcome this situation, not only at an institutional but also at a national level, it is necessary that the State defines its national research policy, respecting the national and regional priorities in health research. PMID:21152728

Deep drillings in the Heidelberg Basins provide access to one of the thickest and most complete successions of Quaternary and Upper Pliocene continental sediments in Central-Europe [1]. In absence of any comprehensive chronostratigraphic model, these sediments are so far classified by lithological and hydrogeological criteria. Therefore the age of this sequence is still controversially discussed ([1], [2]). In spite of the fact that fluvial sediments are a fundamental challenge for the application of magnetic polarity stratigraphy we performed a thorough study on four drilling cores (from Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen and nearby Viernheim). Here, we present the results from the analyses of these cores, which yield to a consistent chronostratigraphic framework. The components of natural remanent magnetisation (NRM) were separated by alternating field and thermal demagnetisation techniques and the characteristic remanent magnetisations (ChRM) were isolated by principle component analysis [3]. Due to the coring technique solely inclination data of the ChRM is used for the determination of the magnetic polarity stratigraphy. Rock magnetic proxies were applied to identify the carriers of the remanent magnetisation. The investigations prove the NRM as a stable, largely primary magnetisation acquired shortly after deposition (PDRM). The Matuyama-Gauss boundary is clearly defined by a polarity change in each core, as suggested in previous work [4]. These findings are in good agreement with the biostratigraphic definition of the base of the Quaternary ([5], [6], [7]). The Brunhes-Matuyama boundary could be identified in core Heidelberg UniNord 1 and 2 only. Consequently, the position of the Jaramillo and Olduvai subchron can be inferred from the lithostratigraphy and the development of fluvial facies architecture in the Rhine system. The continuation of the magnetic polarity stratigraphy into the Gilbert chron (Upper Pliocene) allows alternative correlation schemes for the cores

Since 2002 the National Institute for Earth Physics (NIEP) developed its own real-time digital seismic network: consisting of 96 seismic stations of which 35 are broadband sensors and 24 stations equipped with short period sensors and two arrays earthquakes that transmit data in real time at the National Data Center (NDC) and Eforie Nord (EFOR) Seismic Observatory. EFOR is the back-up for the NDC and also a monitoring center for Black Sea tsunamis. Seismic stations are equipped with Quanterra Q330 and K2 digitizers, broadband seismometers (STS2, CMG40T, CMG 3ESP, CMG3T) and acceleration sensors Episensor Kinemetrics (+ / - 2G). SeedLink who is a part of Seiscomp2.5 and Antelope are software packages used for acquisition in real time (RT) and for data exchange. Communication of digital seismic stations to the National Data Center in Bucharest and Seismic Observatory Eforie Nord is assured by 5 providers (GPRS, VPN, satellite radio and Internet communication). For acquisition and data processing at the two centers of reception and processing is used AntelopeTM 4.11 running on 2 workstations: one for real-time and other for offline processing and also a Seiscomp 3 server that works as back-up for Antelope 4.11 Both acquisition and analysis of seismic data systems produced information about local and global parameters of earthquakes, in addition Antelope is used for manual processing (association events, the calculation of magnitude, creating a database, sending seismic bulletins, calculation of PGA and PGV , etc.), generating ShakeMap products and interacts with global data centers. In order to make all this information easily available across the Web and also lay the grounds for a more modular and flexible development environment the National Data Center developed tools to enable centralizing of data from software such as Antelope which is using a dedicated database system ( Datascope, a database system based on text files ) to a more general-purpose database, My

The Santé Mentale en Population Générale Survey (Mental Health in General Population Survey (MHGP)) is a multicentre international research and action project initiated by the World Health Organisation Collaboration Centre for research and training in mental health. Its aims are to assess the prevalence of the major mental health disorders in the general adult population and from this to record perceptions associated with "mental illness", "madness" and "depression" together with different means of assistance and specialist or lay care. In this work we present the analysis of data on risks of suicide and past history of suicide attempts in the Nord pas de Calais region. We present the qualitative features of these phenomena and correlations with socio-economic, cultural and psychopathological factors, which are discussed in terms of both protective and vulnerability factors. Risk of suicide is present in 15% of the Nord pas de Calais population and is divided into 10.44% slight risk, 2.37% moderate risk and 2.2% high risk. A comparison with data from the MHGP survey in other regions reveals the high risk of suicide in the NPDC region. A risk of suicide is present is 13% of the population in other SMPG survey regions, broken down into 9.1% low risk, 2.1% medium risk and 1.7% high risk. Compared to the 2.2% high risk figure for NPDC, the population in this category is 21% larger. In terms of risk and protective factors, a bivariate analysis of socio-economic and cultural factors confirms the classical risk factors of sex, marital, occupational and educational status and income. The odds-ratio for these socio-economic and cultural factors can be calculated from logistic regression and the protective factors ranked in decreasing order from religion (Muslim versus other religions), martial status (marked versus separated), age (over 58 years old), occupational status (working or retired versus unemployed), income (more than 1300 euros versus less than 840 euros), sex

Rob Hargraves once referred to self-reversed magnetizations as ``skeletons in paleomagnetists' closets'' and devoted part of his career to understanding this phenomena. He and colleagues (Lawson et al., Science, 213,1372-1374, 1981) were the first to observe by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the cation ordered and disordered antiphase domains and boundaries in high titanium titanohematites (yFeTiO3ú1-yFe2O3). But the mechanism enabling titanohematite to acquire a reversed thermoremanence (rTRM) remains to the present day somewhat elusive. Following the first observation of rTRM in natural rocks in the early 1950's, numerous models have been proposed for the reversal mechanism. Concepts common to all models are: 1) microstructurally, the grain is composed of at least one cation ordered and one cation disordered phase, 2) the phase superexchange coupled to the cation ordered domain generating the rTRM is more Fe-enriched and therefore has a higher blocking temperature than the cation ordered domain. The model dependent concept is whether the phase superexchange coupled to the cation ordered domain generating rTRM is cation ordered and ferrimagnetic (Ishikawa, J. Phys. Soc. Jap., 13(8), 828-837, 1958; Prévot et al., PEPI, 126, 75-92, 2001) or cation disordered and antiferromagnetic (AF) (Hoffman, JGR, 97(B7), 10883-10895, 1992; Nord and Lawson, JGR, 97(B7), 10897-10910, 1992). We attempt to provide experimental validation to these currently proposed models for rTRM by analyzing the magnetic behavior of synthetic titanohematite samples, y = 0.7 (Tc ≈ 330 K), that have been annealed and quenched at various temperatures above and below the cation disorder - order transition. Our preliminary results, from remanent and induced magnetization experiments in weak and strong fields and across the temperature range of 3 K to 400 K, clearly show that 370 K is a critical temperature, when approached from above, at which superexchange interactions with the ordered

Flash floods are natural hazards that affect the Mediterranean region. They are caused by intense rainfall events but catchments characteristics are also influential on the hydrological response. In order to study the respective roles of rainfall, land use, geology and soil moisture on this hydrological response at various scales, a high space-time resolution hydrometeorological experimental monitoring system was set in the Mediterranean Claduègne catchment (43 km2), located in the Ardèche catchment, south-east France between 2011 and 2014 (Braud et al., 2014; Nord et al., in prep). Rainfall was monitored using a high resolution rainfall network (Hpiconet) composed of 21 rain gauges with 1 min time step covering an area of about 100 km2. The monitoring of surface hydrology include water level measurements at the outlet of 10 subcatchments ranging from 0.2 to 2.2 km2 and hydrometric measurements (water level, discharge) at the outlet of 3 catchments (Gazel: 3.4 km², SJ1: 12 km² and Claduègne: 43 km²). The 10 subcatchments as well as the Gazel and SJ1 catchments are all embedded within the Claduègne catchments. The location of the 10 subcatchments was chosen to sample different combinations of geology, land use and pedology within the Claduègne catchment. In particular, 4 of these subcathments are located within the Gazel catchment and 2 are located within the SJ1 catchment. Soil moisture data with a 20 minutes time step at depths 10cm, 20-25 and 30-50 cm is also available at nine locations, sampling different combinations of land use and geology. Catchment rainfall was computed from the Hpiconet data for each sub-catchment and all rainfall events using the Thiessen polygons method. The corresponding hydrological response was extracted for the whole data sets. For each event, rainfall characteristics describing rainfall amount and intensity, antecedent rainfall (and thus initial soil moisture) were computed. When a hydrological response was observed, reaction